ISBN 0-620-32746-4
September 2004
African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
9 St. Davids Place
Parktown
Johannesburg
PO Box 37357
Birnam Park
2015
South Africa
Telephone +27 (0) 11 643 6604
Facsimile +27 (0) 11 643 6918
[email protected]
www.aiccafrica.org
The principles of sustainability are becoming increasingly
important in our globally networked world where the
welfare of people, civil society organisations, companies,
countries and supra-national organizations are closely
intertwined. Sustainability stands for the precept of giving
equal consideration to economic, ecological, and social
aspects in all of our actions in order to achieve the goal of
passing on a healthy environment, good business
conditions and a socially just basis for life to coming
generations.
The African continent is facing major challenges, and it is
here where the strong effects business, ecology and social
conditions have on each other are particularly apparent.
African states are striving to achieve stable political,
economic and social structures while preserving their
natural surroundings and Africa's fascinating wildlife. Africa
wants to become accepted as an equal player in the world
of global business.
The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and
its members want to help African nations succeed in this
enormous task. This applies especially to the African Task
Force (ATF) established by the UNEP Financial Initiative
(FI). Financial markets are deeply concerned with
sustainability-related activities because of the pertinent
advice and counselling involved in the actions of
companies, institutions, transactions and project finance
deals. The ATF views itself as a partner in projects, a guide
wherever help is needed, and as an initiator of networks to
facilitate the transfer of experience and ideas.
Deutsche Bank has been a partner of UNEP for years and
has played an active role in a global network of companies,
organisations and institutions that have set themselves the
goal of implementing the principles of sustainability. We
support projects in Africa through the Deutsche Bank Africa
Foundation, which was founded within the framework of
the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
2002, unofficially known as the Johannesburg Summit.
The Foundation primarily supports educational projects,
economic infrastructure programmes such as helping
people to set up small businesses, or projects to fight HIV
and AIDS. Beyond these efforts we also support the Peace
Parks Initiative in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
as well as the Southern African Wildlife College. Peace
Parks combine the preservation of wildlife and the
environment with the creation of jobs thereby making an
important contribution towards the political and social
stability of the region.
Thinking and acting in accordance with the principles of
sustainability is of major importance for Deutsche Bank
within the bank itself and in fulfilling our responsibilities as
a corporate citizen within the international community.
Hanns Michael Hölz,
Global Head, Corporate Citizenship & Sustainable
Development, Deutsche Bank.
Chairman UNEP FI.
Page 2
Acknowledgements
This report was prepared by Christina Wood and Sean de
Cleene, with support from Paul Kapelus, Mokhethi
Moshoeshoe, Anders Hein, Tagbo Agbazue, Nkosi Ndlovo
and Sarah Ruck.
The AICC Centre for Sustainability Investing joined with the
UNEP Finance Initiative African Task Force to compile this
report. The report was made possible by finance from IFC
Sustainable Financial Markets Facility, UNEP Finance
Initiative, Finmark Trust, Nedbank and Deutsche Bank.
The authors would also like to thank Robin Sandenburgh,
Jonathan Wood, Louise Ford, Cas Coovadia, Zithulele Cindi,
Brian Pearce, Emma Hunt, Dan Siddy, Todd Hanson,
Niamh O'Sullivan, Paul Clements-Hunt, David Porteous,
Justin Smith, Lora Rossler, Dan Sonnenberg, Mike Oswald,
Lisa Christodoulou, Gertrude Lomas-Walker, Desmond
Ovbiagele, Kathryn Harding and the UNEP Finance Initiative
African Task Force for their support and critical insights.
The Authors
Sean de Cleene
Director and co-founder of the African
Institute of Corporate Citizenship. Sean is
currently based in Malawi, his main work is in
the strategy formulation and management
implications for companies looking to
mainstream corporate governance and
corporate citizenship reforms in line with current business
related sustainability concerns. In this regard he has
worked extensively with the finance sector. Sean is co-chair
of UNEP Finance Initiative Africa Taskforce and a member
of the initial FTSE/JSE SRI Index Advisory Committee. He is
on the board of both the UK based Centre for
Advancement of Sustainable Development Partnerships
and Business Consult Africa. Sean is a non-executive
director of Sustainability Research and Intelligence (data
provider to the FTSE/JSE SRI Index). He is also a senior
advisor on the Malawi and South Africa UN Global Compact
and on the management committee of the University of
South Africa Centre for Corporate Citizenship.
[email protected]
Christina Wood
Christina Wood has over 10 years' experience
in sustainability and environmental
management. She has managed and
undertaken numerous environmental impact
assessments and audits in southern Africa
and has also developed and delivered training
programmes in environmental management to the private
and public sector. She has worked extensively with the
financial sector, and the infrastructure and mining sectors.
Since 2001, she has been a consultant to the Environment
and Social Development Department of the International
Finance Corporation (the private sector arm of the World
Bank Group). She has worked mainly with IFC financial
intermediary clients, and has delivered Competitive
Business Advantage training to this sector on behalf of IFC.
Christina is an associate member of the UNEP FI African
Task Force and is currently Programme Manager for AICC's
Centre for Sustainability Investing. She lives in
Johannesburg with her husband and son, and is passionate
about art and travel.
[email protected]
Page 3
Executive Summary
This report looks at the role of the financial sector in Africa
in promoting sustainability. Sustainability is about ensuring
long term business success, while contributing towards
economic and social development, a healthy environment
and a stable society. There are three broad components of
sustainability, sometimes referred to as 'people, planet and
prosperity', or the 'social, environmental and economic'
dimensions. The need for businesses to address all three
has been encapsulated in the concept of the 'triple bottom
line'. The report identifies a number of innovations
demonstrating sustainability banking in different countries
in Africa. Together, these provide a clear indication of
change in the financial sector from the more traditional
defensive and narrow risk management approach, to being
more proactive, and promoting competitive sustainability
advantage.
The aim of the report is several fold:
• To examine sustainability banking in an African context;
• To analyse the role of the finance sector in promoting
sustainability - highlighting the challenges and
opportunities that exist;
• To create a basis for discussion and action upon which
sustainability banking issues can be addressed;
• To initiate a dialogue around the London Principles, with
the intention perhaps of generating an African version of
the principles, that can then support the goals of NEPAD
or be adapted to suit individual country requirements;
• To highlight a series of current product, process and
market innovations that demonstrate the increasingly
integrated nature of sustainability practice on the
continent;
• To use these examples to develop lessons for developing
future innovative tools and approaches relevant to the
African context, and;
• To provide a platform for the AICC Centre for
Sustainability Investing, UNEP Finance Initiative (FI)
African Task Force (ATF) and other relevant organisations
to develop mechanisms to ensure that sustainability
banking is taken forward in Africa.
The report itself is not expected to represent a definitive
account of all finance sector sustainability practices in
Africa, but rather to provide a comprehensive initial
assessment with ideas for future action. The audience for
the report comprises finance sector institutions and policy
makers who are working to improve the nature of the
financial system in Africa. It will also provide a framework
for organisations and stakeholders who are looking to
engage the finance sector in Africa around sustainability
related issues. In addition, it is expected that the report will
have a broader international audience who are interested
in the challenges and distinct opportunities that investing
into Africa can bring.
In undertaking the research for 'Sustainability Banking in
Africa', five countries were chosen as focal case studies:
South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Botswana and Kenya. Over
fifty financial institutions were interviewed, and a number of
others consulted. From these interviews, nineteen detailed
case studies were developed reflecting a range of product
and process specific innovations. A number of these are
significant in their use of partnerships to attain the goals of
sustainability banking. Some of these partnerships are
Summary of current practices demonstrating sustainability banking identified in this report
Pricing Assets and
Providing New Finance
Risk Management
Savings and Transactions
Exercising Ownership
•Financial Sector Charter
•Nedbank Green Trust
•JSE SRI Index
•Community Property Fund
•Earth Equity Fund
•Development Fund of
Funds
•IDEAS Fund
•Women’s Initiative Fund
•Carbon trading
•Financial Sector Charter
•Finmark Trust
•PPPs
•Khula Mentorship Scheme
•Futuregrowth’s
Development Funds
•ACEP
•CIF forum
•SME Partnership SMIEIS
•Oil Services Local Control
Credit Scheme
•DrumNet
•WEEC
•EAIF
•Financial Sector Charter
•CCMR
•MicroSave-Africa
•CETZAM
•Financial Sector Charter
•Standard Bank’s E Plan
•Teba Bank
•Inter-Bank Task Group
•ATM Solutions
•Equity Building Society
•ASCAs
•K-Rep
•Botswana Savings Bank
•Malswitch
•Celpay
•Epack
Page 4
Unique to the African situation and offer lessons to the
continent and other emerging markets. Discussions with
practitioners identified possible future innovations for
sustainability banking, and these are highlighted. Though
the focus of the report is to look at specific finance sector
mechanisms that could be developed to promote
sustainability; these mechanisms need to be supported
within a broader climate for change. New forms of
governance, sustainability clusters and partnerships,
involving a range of players are needed to ensure that
these practices are embedded and of value to society as a
whole.
The key drivers and challenges for sustainability banking in
Africa are discussed, for as Cas Coovadia, of the Banking
Council of South Africa, and Chair of UNEP FI African Task
Force observes, “the challenges of sustainable
development must be seen within the African context. We
need to be careful that we don't impose values of
developed countries as far as sustainable development is
concerned.”
The evidence from the report points to the emergence of a
dynamic business case for sustainability banking in subSaharan Africa. This development is linked to improved risk
analysis, better corporate governance standards, increased
potential to access international funds, enhanced ability to
enter or create new markets and improved stakeholder
relations.
The report highlights an impressive range of financial
innovations supporting sustainability in Africa. One of the
report's aims is to raise awareness of the achievements of
these financial institutions, thus encouraging adoption of
similar innovations elsewhere on the continent.
The London Principles
In 2002, the Corporation of London and individual finance
sector institutions developed the 'London Principles' to
“propose conditions for a financial system, and the role of
institutions within that system, that will enhance the
financing of sustainable development” and to improve the
performance of financial institutions in promoting economic
prosperity in line with sustainable development priorities.
It is proposed that the London Principles offer a sound
base for departure in the African context. This report hopes
to initiate a dialogue around these principles to look at
generating an African version of the principles that can
Page 5
then be embedded into NEPAD or adapted to suit individual
country requirements. The South African Financial Sector
Charter would also provide a foundation for developing
principles encouraging social development and upliftment
across the continent.
In adopting these African Principles, signatories would
agree, where relevant to the product and geographical
scope of their business, to:
Economic Prosperity
Principle 1 Provide access to finance and risk
management products for investment,
innovation and the most efficient use of
existing assets.
Principle 2 Promote transparency and high standards of
corporate governance in themselves and in
the activities being financed.
Principle 3 Recognise the importance of the provision of
financial services to all socio-economic
sectors of the population.
Principle 4 Provide access to technical and business
support to both borrowers (especially SMEs)
and lenders focusing on this sector
(microfinance or SME lending institutions) to
ensure their long term commercial viability
and sustainability.
Environmental Protection
Principle 5 Reflect the cost of environmental and social
risks in the pricing of financial and risk
management products.
Principle 6 Exercise equity ownership to promote
efficient and sustainable asset use and risk
management.
Principle 7 Provide access to finance for the
development of environmentally beneficial
technologies.
Social Development
Principle 8 Exercise equity ownership to promote high
standards of corporate social responsibility in
the activities being financed.
Principle 9 Provide access to market finance and risk
management products to businesses in
disadvantaged communities and developing
economies.
Principle 10 Promote the use of effective partnerships
between government, private sector and
NGOs in order to offer innovative
sustainability banking products and services
to all sectors of the population.
Executive Summary
Challenges for Africa
The role of banks as intermediaries in Africa will be
particularly important when it comes to development of
infrastructure on the continent, including transport and
communication links, as well as essential services such as
water, electricity and health care. As intermediaries,
finance sector institutions play a key role in signalling price
fluctuations, influencing regulatory changes, determining
the nature of the special purpose investment vehicles to
include social and environmental concerns, as well as
having a significant influence in their capacity as
shareholders on corporate governance and project
implementation issues. There is also a need for increased
focus on broad based domestic resource mobilisation and
reversing the declining trends in the levels of savings that
occur in many African countries. Contrary to developed
economies, in Africa, this is identified as a major
component of what is described as sustainability banking.
Even though much work has been done on the role of
micro-credit in bringing about positive changes to poorer
Towards Sustainability Banking
peoples' lives, there has been less analysis of the role of
transactions and savings as a means of improving
livelihoods and making markets work for the poor. This is
particularly the case in relation to the traditional banking
sector and in looking at the role of the state in providing
universal banking services.
Increasingly important, will be the need for stakeholder
engagement and the creation of viable partnerships as
engines of sustainable growth. How the finance sector
chooses to deal with this in Africa will have a substantial
bearing on the sustainable economic development of
individual countries allowing for provision of more jobs and
enhanced prospects for a more socially cohesive society.
How individual institutions deal with their own internal
changes in adopting a sustainability business approach and
develop appropriate company specific sustainability
management systems and codes of practice will be equally
important. The report identifies several examples of where
this is happening and the unique journeys that those
companies have embarked on.
1
•
•
•
•
Financial Institutions beginning to develop a sustainability banking approach must:
Ensure commitment at top level management.
Examine key business drivers, including principle areas of sustainability risk and opportunity.
Examine organisational values of company in the context of sustainability.
Define the roles and responsibilities of the management team, and choose specific limited sustainability interventions
with clear objectives.
• Monitor and evaluate performance against specific criteria and objectives.
2
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Financial institutions wishing to move beyond a basic commitment to sustainability banking should:
Ensure commitment of staff and board involvement.
Analyse sustainability risks and opportunities in detail, including the scope for innovation.
Incorporate sustainability principles into a code of practice.
Look to integrate a sustainability framework across the bank including an overall strategy.
Train and build awareness of all staff.
Communicate the sustainability strategy internally and externally.
Undertake reporting of sustainability risk management and opportunities.
Develop a knowledge management and learning framework.
3 Financial Institutions aiming to achieve competitive sustainability advantage should:
• Move to inspire the whole organisational network including suppliers and key partners.
• Use professional benchmarking and diagnostic tools to evaluate company performance on sustainability banking and
inform strategy development linking directly to core business competencies.
• Apply external standards and consider external auditing to enhance credibility.
• Undertake progressive stakeholder engagement process.
• Integrate sustainability issues into key internal management systems.
• Undertake externally audited sustainability reporting process.
• Ongoing review and analysis of performance against measured targets.
Page 6
At the same time there are opportunities to ensure that
existing country specific initiatives align and influence
developments in sustainability banking and investing more
widely on the continent. For example, could South Africa's
Finance Sector Charter be merged with broader
sustainability ideals to offer a continent-wide guide? There
exists the opportunity for countries or regions in Africa to
launch and enforce culturally and contextually relevant
versions of international sustainability banking codes, such
as the London Principles.
The way forward
It is proposed that this report be distributed widely to
financial institutions operating in Africa, through national
and regional banking councils and life assurance bodies.
Champions should be identified within these organisations
to co-ordinate regional roundtable events bringing public
and private sector financial bodies, as well as relevant
Page 7
NGOs and other stakeholders together. These roundtables
would allow the finance sector to investigate the relevance
to Africa of the Western / developed countries'
understanding of Sustainability Banking and to identify
ways of customising a regional African or continent wide
concept of Sustainability Banking In addition, they would
afford the opportunity for the finance sector to share
current good practice in this regard, and gauge
international trends. In South Africa, the finance sector
could look at sustainability issues in the light of
developments subsequent to the launch of the finance
sector charter. Overall, these discussion fora could initiate
the potential development of voluntary sustainability
principles that accord with the interests of the finance
community while keeping in line with international norms,
fostering partnerships between government, the private
sector and other relevant stakeholders to embrace the
notion of sustainability banking across the continent.
Contents
1.
Sustainability Banking - An Agenda for Change ..........................................................................................10
2.
Making Sustainability Banking Count in Africa - Overview of this report .....................................................13
2.1
Methodology...........................................................................................................................13
2.2
Structure of the report .............................................................................................................15
3.
Sustainability Banking - an African Context................................................................................................15
3.1
Drivers for Sustainability Banking in Africa ..................................................................................16
3.2
Challenges for Sustainability Banking in Africa ............................................................................18
4.
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking .........................................................................................21
4.1
South Africa............................................................................................................................21
4.2
Nigeria ...................................................................................................................................27
4.3
Senegal..................................................................................................................................30
4.4
Botswana ...............................................................................................................................33
4.5
Kenya ....................................................................................................................................36
5.
Case Studies in Innovation Today...............................................................................................................41
6.
Practitioners' ideas for Innovation Tomorrow..............................................................................................67
7.
Conclusion
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
.............................................................................................................................................73
An Agenda for Change - Making Sustainability Banking count in Africa ..........................................73
Strategies to encourage Sustainability Banking practices in Africa.................................................74
Principles of Sustainability Banking ...........................................................................................76
The way forward ......................................................................................................................77
8.
Appendices
1.
2.
.............................................................................................................................................78
Individuals and institutions consulted ........................................................................................78
List of useful websites..............................................................................................................81
List
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
of Boxes
UNEP FI
.............................................................................................................................................10
The Equator Principles...................................................................................................................................11
The London Principles ...................................................................................................................................12
The Finance Sector’s broad functions and business areas .................................................................................14
African signatories to UNEP FI statement on the Environment and Sustainable Development ................................15
The New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) .....................................................................17
Control of Money Laundering .........................................................................................................................19
Opportunities through NEPAD.........................................................................................................................74
The path towards Sustainability Banking..........................................................................................................75
A blueprint for the “Johannesburg Principles” ...................................................................................................76
List of Tables
1
Overview data on the case study countries ......................................................................................................14
2
Summary of current innovations identified in this report ....................................................................................73
List of Figures
1
Towards Sustainability Banking.......................................................................................................................11
Page 8
Abbreviations and Acronyms
ADEPME
AICC
ALSI
ASCA
AML
BCEAO
BEE
BOT
CCMR
CGAP
CGT
CHOGM
CSI
CSR
DBSA
DFI
DfID
DTI
EAIF
ECOWAS
EIA
EITI
ESAAMLG
FATF
FICA
FPE
GDP
IFC
INAFI
JSE
NEDLAC
NEPAD
OECD
POEC
PARMEC
PEEPA
POS
PPP
SACCO
SADC
SMI
SMIEIS
SMME
SRI
UEMOA
VC
WB
Page 9
Association de Developpement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises
Association for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (Senegal)
African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
All Share Index
Accumulating Savings and Credit Association
Anti Money Laundering
Banque Centrale des Etats del’Afrique de l’Ouest
West African Central Bank
Black Economic Empowerment
Build-Operate-Transfer
Corporate Citizenship Management Rating
Consultative Group to assist the Poor
Capital Gains Tax
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Centre for Sustainability Investing
One of AICC's programme areas
Corporate Social Responsibility
Development Bank of South Africa
Development Finance Institution
Department for International Development (United Kingdom)
Department of Trade and Industry (South Africa)
Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund
Economic Community of West African States
Environmental Impact Assessment
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group
Financial Action Task Force
Financial Intelligence Centre Act
Fonds de Promotion Économique
Part of the Ministry of Finance (Senegal)
Gross Domestic Product
International Finance Corporation
International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions
Johannesburg Securities Exchange
National Economic Development and Labour Council (South Africa)
New Economic Partnership for African Development
Organisation for Economic Development
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Projet d'Appui à la Reglementation sur les Mutuelles d'Epargne et de Crédit
Support project for regulations on savings and credit mutuals (Senegal)
Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (Botswana)
Point of Sale
Public Private Partnership
Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies
Southern African Development Community
Small and Medium Industries
Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment Scheme (Nigeria)
Small Medium and Micro Enterprises
Socially Responsible Investing
Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine
West African Economic and Monetary Union
Venture Capital
World Bank
Sustainability Banking - An agenda for change
1.
Sustainability Banking An agenda for change
Sustainability is about ensuring long term business
success, while contributing to society’s present and future
social, environmental and economic needs. This approach
requires ethical, environmental, social and economic
considerations to be integrated into all aspects of the
business, reflecting the principles of sustainable
development.
While many businesses, particularly those in the extractive
industries, are well aware of the need to incorporate
environmental and social issues into their policies and
procedures and to consider the sustainability of their
operations, the banking sector has been slow to respond to
the new challenges that sustainability presents. This is
because the banking sector generally considers itself to be
a relatively environmentally- and society- friendly industry.
This perception is now altering worldwide, however, as a
result of a number of driving forces including:
• Regulatory developments, which are seeing bankers
being held liable for the environmental pollution caused
by their clients (CERCLA1, USA).
• The growing profile of finance sector partnerships such
as the United Nations Environment Programme Finance
Initiative (see Box 1), which aims to identify, promote
and realise the adoption of best sustainability practice in
all levels of financial institution operations.
• The setting of high environmental, social, and
governance standards by multilateral development
banks.
• The adoption of similar high standards by private sector
banks, as seen with the adoption of the Equator
Principles (see Box 2) by twenty three leading
international banks; and the launching of the London
Principles in the UK (see Box 3) by the British Prime
Minister at the World Summit in 2002.
• Increased stakeholder pressure and associated
reputational risks e.g. more than a hundred civil society /
NGO groups have signed the Collevecchio Declaration2,
which offers a roadmap for the financial sector,
emphasising commitments to sustainability,
transparency, and harm avoidance amongst other issues.
These civil society groups will be increasingly active in
holding institutions to account for their activities.
Box 1: UNEP FI
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) was launched in 1992 as a global partnership
between UNEP and the private financial sector. UNEP FI works closely with over two hundred financial institutions to
develop and promote linkages between the environment, sustainability and financial performance. Through task forces,
working groups, training programmes and research, UNEP FI aims to address the opportunities and challenges that
sustainable development poses to the financial sector, and society as a whole. Today, there are two hundred and thirty
six signatories to the UNEP FI Statement on the Environment and Sustainable Development reflecting a growing
awareness in the sector of sustainability.
The UNEP FI African Task Force (ATF) was launched in 2002 with the primary aim of promoting best sustainability
practice across all financial sectors within a specific African context. The task force comprises fifteen members from the
financial sector, assisted by a smaller group of non-financial associates to meet the challenges of the agreed work
programme. UNEP FI view the ATF as a valuable mechanism to promote an 'African renaissance', recognising that the
finance sector is pivotal to the advancement of this renewal.
“As financiers we:
• ...regard the financial services sector as an important contributor towards sustainable development, in association
with other economic sectors.
• …recognise that identifying and quantifying environmental risks should be part of the normal process of risk
assessment and management, both in domestic and international operations. With regard to customers, we regard
compliance with applicable environmental regulations, and the use of sound environmental practices as important
factors in demonstrating effective corporate management.
• …encourage the financial services sector to develop products and services which will promote environmental
protection.” Extracts from UNEP FI Statement on the Environment and Sustainable Development as revised May 1997.
1 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (USA).
2 The Collevecchio Declaration (www.financeadvocacy.org) was released by civil society groups in 2003.
Page 10
• Governance failure in some financial institutions
contributed to the loss of public trust that, between
2001 and 2003, impacted global capital markets and
destroyed corporate value in a wave of scandals.
• The realisation that environmental and social issues pose
risks that affect the bottom line across all sectors of
banking.
• The concurrent realisation that the consideration of
environmental and social issues in product development
offers the potential to reach new sectors of the market,
and to realise competitive advantage over peers in the
financial sector.
• The growing understanding of, and commitment to,
addressing the interconnectedness of environment,
society and economy i.e. the triple bottom line.
Sustainability is about ensuring long term business
success, while contributing towards economic and social
development, a healthy environment and a stable society.
There are three broad components of sustainability. They
are sometimes referred to as 'people, planet and
prosperity', or the 'social, environmental and economic'
dimensions. The need for businesses to address all three
has been encapsulated in the concept of the 'triple bottom
line’3.
Figure 1: Towards Sustainability Banking
Box 2: The Equator Principles
In June 2003, ten of the world's leading international
banks announced the adoption of the 'Equator
Principles', a comprehensive set of environmental and
social guidelines for the financing of projects over US$50
million. These principles are based on the environmental
and social safeguard policies and guidelines of the
International Finance Corporation (IFC). The banks apply
the principles globally to projects in all industry sectors.
With rapid speed, these principles have become the new
banking industry standard on environmental and social
issues for project finance. As of May 2004, there are
twenty three financial institutions that have adopted the
Equator Principles.
In doing so, a bank undertakes to provide loans only to
those projects whose sponsors demonstrate, to the
satisfaction of the bank, their ability and willingness to
comply with policies and guidelines aimed at ensuring
that the projects are developed in a socially responsible
manner, and according to sound environmental
practices. The adoption of the Equator Principles
confirms that the role of the global financial institutions
is changing. More than ever, people at the local level
know that the environmental and social aspects of an
investment can have profound consequences on their
lives and communities - particularly in emerging markets
where regulatory regimes are often weak. “If financial
institutions want to operate in these markets, there is a
bottom line value in having clear, understandable and
responsible standards for investing,” says Jean Philippe
Prosper, Manager of Financial Markets for Sub-Saharan
Africa, IFC. www.equator-principles.com
Defensive
banking
Reactive
banking
Competitive
sustainability
advantage
Responsible
competitiveness
A defensive
state
of denial
of
sustainability
issues
Recognises
environmental
and social
issues
as risks only
An integrated
business approach
recognising
sustainability
opportunities
as well as risks
Where a fully
integrated business
approach
includes
promoting national
and sector
competitiveness
through sustainability
3 SustainAbility, IFC and Ethos Institute (2002) Developing Value: The business case for sustainability in emerging markets, SustainAbility.
Page 11
Sustainability Banking - An agenda for change
The various approaches adopted by banks worldwide
towards sustainability have been analysed and modelled4.
Four stages of recognition of, and response to
sustainability issues can be identified (Figure 1). Banks can
be classified according to their stage of awareness, and
most will pass through the four phases on their journey
towards 'Sustainability Finance'. They will move from;
(i)
a defensive state of basic environmental risk
management, where broader sustainability issues are
overlooked or ignored, through to
(ii) a protective or reactive phase where there is more
systematic management of environmental and social
risk, to
(iii) a more proactive or offensive phase, where there is
strategic management of environmental and social
risk, and even, limited environmental and social value
added, to
(iv) the ultimate sustainability banking phase, where the
triple bottom line approach (people, planet and
prosperity) is integrated into the bank's core business
strategy, and is no longer limited to risk avoidance, but
is now seen as a potential part of every type of
financial risk management and decision making
process. Sustainability related issues are recognised
as drivers for developing new products and services,
generating additional revenue and increasing market
share, and the organisation becomes environmental
value driven.
Box 3: The London Principles
The 'Financing the Future' Project was commissioned by the Corporation of London on behalf of the Department for
Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), as one of the sector initiatives that the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair,
took to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), in Johannesburg in 2002. The project was carried out
by Forum for the Future's Centre for Sustainable Investment. The output of the project was a set of principles defining
the role of the UK financial services in sustainable development, known as the London Principles5.
Signatories agree, where relevant to the product and geographical scope of their business to:
Economic Prosperity
Principle 1 Provide access to finance and risk management products for investment, innovation and the most efficient
use of existing assets
Principle 2 Promote transparency and high standards of corporate governance in themselves and in the activities being
financed
Environmental Protection
Principle 3 Reflect the cost of environmental and social risks in the pricing of financial and risk management products
Principle 4 Exercise equity ownership to promote efficient and sustainable asset use and risk management
Principle 5 Provide access to finance for the development of environmentally beneficial technologies
Social Development
Principle 6 Exercise equity ownership to promote high standards of corporate social responsibility by the activities being
financed
Principle 7 Provide access to market finance and risk management products to businesses in disadvantaged
communities and developing economies
www.forumforthefuture.org.uk
4 Jeucken, Bouma & Klinkers (2001) Sustainable Banking: The Greening of Finance, Deloitte and Touche.
5 Corporation of London, 2002, Financing the Future (The London Principles). www.forumforthefuture.org.uk.
Page 12
2.
Making Sustainability Banking count in Africa Overview of this report
This report looks at the role of the finance sector in Africa
in promoting sustainable development. Following the
completion of the 'Financing the Future' project and the
development of the London Principles in 2002, it was felt
that similar research focusing on Africa would be of
enormous value in understanding, guiding and shaping
sustainability banking on the continent. The authors believe
that the London Principles offer a sound base for departure
in the African context.
This 'Sustainability Banking in Africa' report was undertaken
in association with UNEP FI, and supported by the IFC,
FinMark Trust, People's Bank and Deutsche Bank. The
project was directed by Christina Wood and Sean de
Cleene at the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship's
Centre for Sustainability Investment (CSI).
The aim of the report is several fold:
• To define sustainability banking in an African context;
• To analyse the role of the finance sector in promoting
sustainability in Africa - highlighting the challenges and
opportunities that exist;
• To create a basis for discussion and action upon which
sustainability banking issues in Africa can be addressed;
• To initiate a dialogue around the London Principles, with
the intention perhaps of generating an African version of
the principles, that can then support the goals of NEPAD
or be adapted to suit individual country requirements;
• To highlight a series of current product, process and
market innovations that demonstrate the increasingly
integrated nature of sustainability practice in the African
finance sector;
• To use these examples to develop lessons for developing
future innovative tools and approaches relevant to the
African context, and;
• To provide a platform for the AICC Centre for
Sustainability Investing, UNEP Finance Initiative (FI)
African Task Force (ATF) and other relevant organisations
to develop mechanisms to ensure that sustainable
banking is taken forward in Africa.
The audience for the report comprises finance sector
institutions and policy makers who are working to improve
the nature of the financial system in Africa. It will also
provide a framework for organisations and stakeholders
who are looking to engage the finance sector in Africa
Page 13
around sustainability related issues. In addition, it is
expected that the report will have a broader international
audience who are interested in the challenges and distinct
opportunities that investing into Africa can bring.
2.1
Methodology
At a series of planning workshops involving AICC, funders,
consultants and representatives of the UNEP FI ATF, it was
agreed that the report methodology should build on
existing international work on sustainability banking, rather
than devising a unique methodology. This existing work
should be adapted to suit the African context.
Having examined a variety of approaches, and following
discussions with representatives of the Forum for the
Future in the UK, it was felt that the methodology and
structure used to deliver the London Principles offered the
most applicable and appropriate model. This report,
therefore, draws heavily on the 'Financing the Future'
document (see Box 3).
In undertaking the research for 'Sustainability Banking in
Africa', over fifty financial institutions were interviewed, and
a number of others consulted, about their role in promoting
sustainability in Africa. From these interviews, nineteen
detailed case studies were developed reflecting a range of
product and process specific innovations. A number of
potential future innovations were also developed. The
report itself is not expected to represent a definitive
account of all finance sector sustainability practices in
Africa, but rather to provide a comprehensive initial
assessment. Five countries were chosen as focal case
studies: South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Botswana and
Kenya (see Table 1). The country cases were chosen for
the following reasons:
• To ensure coverage of southern, eastern and western
Africa. North African countries were specifically excluded
from this study due to differing practices of Islamic
banking. Future studies could investigate any unique
attributes offered by these countries;
• To include one francophone country;
• To acknowledge that South Africa is the leader on the
continent, and not necessarily representative of southern
African banking practices; and,
• To identify particular regional or national variations in
sustainability banking practices, but also to highlight
common values, practices and challenges.
Making Sustainability Banking count in Africa
In order to fully understand the potential for the financial
sector to impact on the natural and social environments,
and also to positively influence sustainable development;
the functions and business areas of the sector must be
defined. Again, the Financing the Future Report offered a
useful framework for investigating the impacts and
innovations of the finance sector's various business areas.
A fourth category (savings and transactions) was added to
the original three-tier model, thus making it much more
relevant to sustainability banking in the African context (see
Box 4).
Each of the country case studies examines finance and
sustainability in those countries under these four business
areas. Current innovations are highlighted, and future
innovations are discussed briefly in Section 6, again under
the four functions.
Box 4: The Financial Sector’s broad functions and
business areas
Functions
Pricing assets &
exercising ownership
Providing new finance
Risk Management
Although members of the UNEP FI ATF have contributed
significantly to its development, responsibility for the
accuracy of the report lies with the AICC Centre for
Sustainability Investing. It is expected that the report will
allow the UNEP FI ATF and other organisations a vehicle for
taking forward the sustainability banking agenda in Africa.
Savings & Transactions
Business Area
Asset management
stock selection
corporate governance
investment banking
research
trading
Commercial banking
credit
leasing
Investment banking
project finance
new issues
private equity
Insurance
reinsurance
non life
Investment banking
derivatives
Savings Transactions
withdrawals & deposits
transfers
payment methods
Adapted from the London Principles; Forum for the Future's
Centre for Sustainable Investment (CSI), 2002.
Table 1: Overview data6 on the case study countries
Nigeria
South Africa
132.8d
Population (m)
45.3
2.1d
% population growth
0.5
e
GDP / head (US$)
360e
2.549
Currency
Naira
Rand
Exchange rate : US$ (ave 2003)
129.8
7.57
Key industries
Senegal
10.28b
2.6b
616b
CFA Franc
581.2
No of banks
Interest rate (%; ave)
Consumer Price Inflation (%; ave)
36
13
4.8
90
20.6
13.6
Fish and
shellfish
phosphate
products,
groundnuts
11
14.5b
0.8c
Corruption Perceptionf:
Rank (out of 103)
Scoreg
48
4.4
122
1.9
76
3.2
Mining,
Manufacturing
Petroleum
products
Botswana
1.79a
1.1a
4.652a
Pula
4.95
Diamond
mining, meat
products
Kenya
31.98b
2.0b
413b
Kenya Shilling
75.94
Tea, coffee,
horticulture,
tourism
12
15.75a
5.8c
43
13.5b
9.8b
30
5.7
132
1.4
a 2003 actual (EIU)
b 2003 estimate (EIU)
c 2004 forecast (EIU)
d World Bank, 2002
e EIU 2002
f Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2004
g where 10 is highly clean and 1 is highly corrupt
6 Drawn mainly from Economist Intelligence Unit work.
Page 14
2.2
Structure of the report
The study identified a wide range of financial innovations
emanating from across the continent. These include
process innovations (such as K-Rep's mobile banking units
in Kenya); product innovations (such as Capital Alliance's
SME Fund in Nigeria); market innovations (such as the
Financial Sector Charter in South Africa) and innovations in
savings and transactions (such as Standard Bank's 'E
Plan'). Taken as a whole, these innovative financial
products have the potential to shape the development of a
continent-wide approach to sustainable finance.
The report examines the five case study countries, briefly
describing the financial sector and practices contributing to
sustainability banking. Country specific challenges and
opportunities are identified, and existing innovations
discussed. Section 5 highlights particular company
innovations in greater detail to emphasize lessons that
could be applied elsewhere and by other institutions. All
are products or processes seeking commercial returns or
the commercialisation of the business they are financing.
Thus, these examples indicate how the financial sector
contributes to sustainable development in Africa. The range
of case studies covered is not conclusive, and there are
likely to be numerous other examples of such innovation.
However, the cases demonstrate the spread of current
practice with regard to sustainability banking on the
continent, and lay the framework for future innovations.
Section 6 discusses how the role of the financial services
in sustainability banking could be improved through
innovation by the public or private sector. These ideas
originated in discussions with practitioners in each of the
countries, and while some may already be in existence in
some parts of Africa, they provide useful models for
innovation elsewhere.
In the conclusion, the authors outline the way forward for
sustainability banking in Africa. Key challenges are
highlighted and several clear possibilities for future action
are identified. Details of practitioners consulted as part of
this project are included in Annex 1.
3.
Sustainability Banking - an African context
The financial services sector plays a very different role to
other industry sectors in contributing to sustainable
development and has responded far more slowly to the
challenges and opportunities that sustainability presents.
Page 15
Private sector financial institutions are particularly behind in
this respect. One of the key reasons for this has been the
fact that the finance sector itself does not have a
significant social or environmental 'footprint'. It is only
recently - as the spotlight has turned to the financial sector
in regard to its position as an intermediary, and the pivotal
role it therefore plays in assessing and potentially
mitigating risk, including social and environmental risk that a change in approach is beginning to emerge.
It is important to consider the key drivers and challenges
for sustainable banking in Africa. It must be noted that
drivers, challenges and opportunities vary from country to
Box 5: African signatories to UNEP FI Statement on
the Environment and Sustainable Development
Of the more than two hundred signatories to the UNEP FI
Statement on the Environment and Sustainable
Development, the following operate in Africa. Thus, a
commitment to sustainable banking practices, or at
least, environmental protection, is already in evidence in
certain lending activities on the continent. However, of
these thirty four banks, only eight are African Banks
(highlighted below), as opposed to international / global
banks transacting or operating on the continent:
• Arab Bank, Plc
• Banco Portuges do
Atlantico SA
• Banco Africano de
Investimentos
• Banco Nacional de Angola
• Banky Fampandrosoanany
Varotra, Madagascar
• Barclays Group Plc
• Bayerische Hypo- und
Vereinsbank AG
• BMCE Bank, Morocco
• Black Emerald Group
• Citigroup, USA
• Commerzbank AG
• Credit Suisse Group
• DEG German Investment
& Development Company
• Development Bank of
South Africa (DBSA)
• Deutsche Bank AG
• DZ Bank, Germany
• Dresdner Bank AG
• Export Bank of
Africa Ltd, Kenya
• Export Development
Corporation, Canada
• FMO, Netherlands
• FSB, Nigeria
• HSBC Holdings Plc
• Kenya Commercial
Bank Group
• KfW (Germany)
• National Bank of
Kuwait
• Nedbank, South
Africa
• Prudential Plc
• Rabobank
• Royal Bank of
Scotland
• Bank of Nova Scotia
• Société Général
• Standard Chartered
Bank
• UBS AG
• West LB (Germany)
Sustainability Banking - an African context
country and region to region, and therefore require quite
different responses. Equally, it has become clear that
'northern hemisphere' standards are not necessarily
appropriate as global norms, and forcing such standards
onto Africa without proper opportunities for debate could
provide an even greater obstacle to sustainability banking
than currently exists. “The challenges of sustainable
development must be seen within the African context. We
need to be careful that we don't impose values of
developed countries as far as sustainable development is
concerned,” says Cas Coovadia, of the Banking Council of
South Africa, and Chair of UNEP FI African Task Force. A
number of the innovations reviewed later in the report are
significant in their use of partnerships to attain these goals.
Some of these partnerships are unique to the African
situation and offer a number of lessons to the continent
and other emerging markets.
3.1
Drivers for Sustainability Banking in Africa
i) Regulatory developments
In some African countries, regulatory pressure is exerted on
all sectors of society and government in recognition of the
need to responsibly manage environmental impacts. Under
the South African Constitution, the State is obliged to take
'reasonable legislative and other measures' to ensure
environmental protection, equitable access to land, access
to housing, health care, food, water and social security and
to address previous imbalances in society. Legislative
reforms must therefore be anticipated (and have already
begun) to ensure that civil society and the private sector
assist in reaching these national constitutional goals. The
Finance Sector Charter7 was initiated by private sector
banks to pre-empt such legislative reforms and set targets
through extensive consultation and agreement within the
sector.
Under the South African National Environmental
Management Act (NEMA), financiers may potentially be
found liable for environmental pollution and other risks of a
social nature8. Although no case precedents exist yet, it is
only a matter of time before a case of 'lender liability'
comes before the courts.
ii) Expansion of Corporate Governance Codes
In 1993, the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa
established the King Committee on Corporate Governance,
which published the first edition of the King Report on
Corporate Governance in 1994 (“King I”). King I
transcended the financial and regulatory aspects of
corporate governance, and advocated an integrated
approach to good governance in the interest of a wide
range of stakeholders. It institutionalised the concept of
corporate governance in South Africa, successfully
formalising the need for companies to recognise that they
no longer act independently from the societies and the
environment in which they operate.
The evolving global environment, together with recent
South African legislative developments, made a review and
update of the King Report imperative. The Enron scandal in
late 2001, brought global media attention to the issue of
corporate governance, and particularly the role of auditors.
Against this backdrop, South Africa was able to
demonstrate a significant awareness of the need for good
corporate governance, as the updated King II Report on
Corporate Governance had already been widely exposed for
public comment, adopted by many large corporations and
accepted by the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE),
which has now implemented an index for measuring
corporate governance compliance amongst other
sustainability measures. King II, published in 2002,
advocates inter alia that there is a shift from the single to
the triple bottom line, embracing the economic,
environmental and social aspects of a company's activities.
The core values of corporate governance promoted by King
II are: transparency, corporate discipline, independence,
accountability, responsibility, fairness and social
responsibility.
King II is a non-legislated code that is applicable to
companies listed on the JSE, corporations falling in the SA
Financial Services Sector, and enterprises that perform
public functions. Compliance with King II is a listing
requirement on the JSE. It sets out a code of corporate
practices and conducts for corporations in South Africa on
a wide range of issues including: Boards and directors; risk
management; internal audit; integrated sustainability
reporting; accounting and auditing; relations with
shareowners; and communications to stakeholders.
Integrated sustainability reporting has become a
mainstream practice for most JSE-listed companies, while
King II is providing a model for corporate governance
elsewhere in Africa.
iii) Globalisation and competitive advantage
The effect of globalisation has been that investors
worldwide can choose where they want to trade. As a
result, Africa needs to compete for every investment dollar.
To do that, its financial and business policies must be
7 See Section 5, case study 8.
8 NEMA; S 28, the Duty of care and remediation of environmental damage.
Page 16
transparent and internationally credible. The introduction of
world class tools, such as King II and the recently launched
FTSE/JSE 'Socially Responsible Investment Index' (both
from South Africa) are steps towards meeting this external
pressure for transparency and credibility.
International private banks with high standards of
environmentally and socially responsible investment (SRI)
are already investing and transacting in Africa, and alerting
the market to new products and approaches to investment.
Although no African banks have adopted the Equator
Principles yet (see Box 2), “any bank joining a loan
syndication by an Equator bank will be buying into the due
diligence done according to the principles9.” Beyond the
motivation of risk reduction, a handful of forward looking
banks, insurers and investors are also starting to gain
significant competitive advantage by the systematic
application of corporate environmentalism and, more
generally, by exploring how to address sustainable
development in their day to day business10.
iv) Stakeholder pressure and reputational risks
Several financial institutions have received negative
publicity and a great deal of pressure from various
stakeholders in regard to loans, investment and
underwriting decisions. For example, the routing of the
Chad Cameroon pipeline was scrutinised by environmental
NGOs, due to its proximity to sensitive environments. Not
only the developers and governments received criticism,
but also the financiers found themselves under scrutiny.
The banking sector must accept the existence of new
drivers of the debate outside of the traditional set of
regulators, clients and capital supplying markets. Dealing
with the expectations of society is very different and a more
demanding challenge, because it requires the sector to
Box 6: The New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
“There is an implicit assumption within NEPAD that sustainability financing is a fundamental component of Africa's
growth and development. By establishing that responsibility, transparency and good corporate governance need to be
core components of those finance institutions operating in Africa, this will help to ensure that public private partnerships
and infrastructure upgrading schemes, initiated under NEPAD, service the needs of all Africans in an appropriate manner.
At the same time, such an emphasis provides a solid base from which to manage risk more effectively and position the
continent competitively on the global stage in order to attract investment that has a sustainability under-pinning.” (Dr
Mohammed Jahed, Chief Economist - NEPAD).
NEPAD is an all-encompassing strategy conceived and designed by African leaders to take the African continent out of
its predicament of economic, environmental and social decay and underdevelopment. Typical international concerns with
regards to investing in Africa include: weak regulatory and legislative setting as well as enforcement capacity; relatively
volatile trade and investment environment; small market sizes and lack of strong regional integration; lack of a strong
focus on corporate governance in many countries; perceived weakness in managing social, environmental and political
risk; corruption, poor leadership and bad governance; political instability and conflicts; low investment returns and high
transaction costs; and weak infrastructure. The NEPAD framework is designed to counter impediments to trade through
initiatives in the following priority areas: peace, security, democracy and political governance, economic and corporate
governance, infrastructure, agriculture environment, culture, science and technology, capital flows, and market access.
NEPAD aims to change the political, economic, social and environmental landscape of the continent. This is due to the
new political will of African leaders, who are committed to developing effective means of collaboration and accountability
between African governments through mechanisms such as the African Peer Review Mechanism. Governments;
commitment to peer review will, if implemented, have a demon-strative effect on private sector transparency. NEPAD
propounds what Africa and Africans could do for themselves and not just what the West could do for it.
The private sector as a whole, and the banking sector in particular should explore ways in which they can take advantage
of the NEPAD initiative and contribute to its overall goals. According to Trevor Manuel, South Africa's Finance Minister,
the key tasks for the African financial sector in the context of NEPAD are clear: there should be unwavering commitment
to domestic resource mobilisation. A concerted effort must be made to reverse the declining trends in the levels of
savings and investment in the majority of African countries. In addition, there is a need to create the enabling
environment to develop a competitive regional market and ensure Africa's stake in the global market. Over the longer
term, improved governance together with progress and partnerships in sectors like infrastructure, education and health
will cut the costs of doing business in Africa, and more importantly, cut the investors' risk.
9 Richard Burrett, head of project finance at ABN AMRO.
10 Carlos Joly, Chair of UNEP Insurance Industry Initiative.
Page 17
Sustainability Banking - an African context
step outside of its historic role of looking narrowly at the
financial merits of an investment, and to learn to assess
and address the sustainable development side of lending11.
It must be recognised that governance, transparency and
disclosure will be significant drivers of future sustainabilityoriented asset management both globally and under the
auspices of NEPAD. Thus, financiers in Africa must ensure
they can respond to these drivers.
v) Credit risk
Banks, insurance companies and investors started
becoming serious about the environment when
environmental liability became a financial liability. Recently,
a similar trend has emerged in relation to social risk.
Ignoring these risks would be financially irresponsible12.
similar targets as a sector14, and will have to contribute to
the financing of empowerment in other industry sectors.
The issue of access to financial services is by no means a
new one in Africa. The shift in emphasis noted in this
report is how access issues are being dovetailed with
emerging issues of sustainability and pro-poor market
creation. Financial 'exclusion' is being seen as an acute
issue of concern in Africa - not simply a matter of
inconvenience, but potentially as a denial of a basic right.
As more people in Africa come 'on grid' - accessing
electricity, water, fixed line or mobile phone connections
and acquiring mailing addresses - the greater the demand
for financial access will become.
3.2
vi) Social pressures
HIV/AIDS, black economic empowerment, and the need for
job creation can affect the financial viability and hence the
sustainability of projects in Africa. There is a growing
recognition of the need to address these issues at the
financial modelling phase.
HIV/ AIDS poses the biggest threat to the economies of sub
Saharan Africa. At the beginning of 2000, it was estimated
that 23,3 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV or
AIDS. Clem Sunter13 has highlighted the true cost of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic to business as incorporating:
• direct costs (benefits package, recruitment, training, HIV/
AIDS programmes);
• indirect costs (absenteeism, morbidity on the job,
management resources) and
• systemic costs (loss of workplace cohesion, reduction in
workforce performance and experience).
The financial sector must evaluate these costs and their
implications not only to projects, but also to its customer
base and staff on the continent, and innovative approaches
to project structuring and loan repayments must be
explored.
The need to address the previous imbalances of society
and to offer business opportunities to previously
disadvantaged people is a key issue in South Africa. The
National Economic Development and Labour Council
recently proposed a target of at least 35% effective black
participation in the South African economy by 2014. Thus,
the financial sector can expect to feel the influence of
these empowerment targets, as it will be required to meet
11
12
13
14
Challenges for Sustainability Banking in Africa
Whilst the motivation for sustainable banking may be
growing on the continent, there are still a number of
hurdles to be overcome. The challenges to sustainable
banking in Africa are markedly different to those in the rest
of the world. At the time of the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992 public financial flows to developing
countries were markedly greater than private flows. By
1996, however, private flows were more than five times
larger than public flows - an astonishing change in only
four years. Interestingly, some 80% of private financial
flows in the first half of the 1990s were captured by only
twelve emerging market countries, none of which was in
Africa. This would lead to the conclusion that fundamental
hurdles must be overcome to encourage investment and
the supply of finance to projects in Africa. The continent
cannot afford to wait for outside help. What challenges
must be addressed to facilitate the movement of banks
from defensive to sustainable practices?
i) Political risk
The financial sector (and many project sponsors) are
unwilling to commit to long term financing / development of
projects in countries where political upheaval may
significantly alter a project's playing field, and ability to
repay loans. Thus there exists in many banks a short-term
approach to lending and investment, and a “quick return”
mentality. This is to the detriment of any potential long
term benefits in the social / environmental arenas and
precludes any notions of sustainability.
ii) Capacity at a government level
Capacity to enforce regulations and laws, and to monitor
performance is weak in many African countries. In reality,
Iris Gold, Citigroup.
Carlos Joly, Chair of UNEP Insurance Industry Initiative.
Sunter & Whiteside (2000) AIDS: The Challenge for South Africa.
The Finance Sector Charter envisages that companies in the sector will be 25% black owned by 2010. A minimum of 10% of that must be direct ownership. Each financial institution will
have a target of 33% black people on the board of directors and a minimum of 25% black people at executive level by 2008.
Page 18
Box 7: Control of Money Laundering
The South African Development Community (SADC) region has witnessed a significant law reform programme with
regard to anti money laundering (AML) measures in the past five years. Factors behind this include the September 11,
2001 attacks on the United States, which sparked renewed interest in money laundering and terrorist financing around
the globe. This is in addition to the ratification of the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) 40 recommendations by the
Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money laundering Group (ESAAMLG) and the subsequent subscription to ESAAMLG's
memorandum of understanding by a significant number of eastern and southern African countries.
The new AML control regimen has presented banks in the region with several challenges, particularly with regards to
enlarging the landscape of access to banking services. This is largely due to the fact that the substantive AML framework
was designed with developed countries in mind. For instance, the South African Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001
(FICA) provides that banks are duty-bound to take extra measures to establish, verify and authenticate the identity of
prospective customers, including verifying their addresses using documentary evidence from third parties e.g. tax
invoices and utility bills etc. This is problematic considering that the unbanked residing in townships or rural areas do not
have street addresses, tax invoices or utility bills. A number of banking practitioners believe that this legislation will
hinder innovations designed to provide access to the mass market as well as pushing back attempts by banks to roll out
accounts to people outside of the banking environment, especially the informal market. The pilot study shows that while
other countries in the region may afford to have AML measures on paper only, South Africa faces a major challenge.
Whilst the country contends with compliance as per international standards, at the same time its empowerment charter
for the financial sector pledges to extend financial services to the 80% of the unbanked population.
The result of this dilemma has been that banks in the region have rather chosen to overlook many of their AML duties in
order to extend their services to the poor. FinMark Trust's CEO David Porteous sums up the current impasse: "This duediligence verification is being ignored in violation of a law which is unworkable….”
this means that African projects may be riskier to finance,
as little or no enforcement of the law makes evaluation of
risk more difficult. Environmental and social risks are
particularly difficult to quantify, due to the lack of
enforcement of regulations. Moreover, the lack of public
awareness of rights, and the consequent absence of civic
action in many countries, further reduces the impetus to
consider social and environmental aspects of projects.
Government will need to more actively work with NGOs and
other civil society groups to monitor compliance around
social and environmental laws and regulations affecting the
private sector.
iii) Regulatory Environment
Inadequate or restrictive financial regulatory frameworks in
many African countries can hinder the development of new
products and services, thus impeding the goals of
sustainability banking. This has particularly been the case
in terms of access to banking services to the poor (see Box
7). Governments need to revisit these policies to ensure
that they do not restrict banking activities, but allow
innovative product development to service all sectors of the
society.
Page 19
iv) Capacity in the Financial Sector
The African banking sector's understanding and recognition
of the need for, and potential of, sustainability banking is
currently limited. Not only is understanding of social and
environmental risk limited in the financial sector, but there
is little recognition of the potential offered, for example, in
creating new products to service the market. The extent to
which the concept of sustainability banking can be
introduced and married with current financial practices will
determine its success on the continent. Awareness building
is key, and is one of the aims of this report.
v) Absence of environmental management from current
best practice
Few banks in Africa currently subscribe to environmental /
social management standards such as the ISO14000
series, or effectively include environmental / social risk
evaluation criteria in their lending policies. The annual SA
Banking Survey (PWC) which rates and ranks banks'
performance does not include these factors in evaluating
best practice. Given the significant impact that issues
relating to social and environmental risk have on an
investment, best practice should be redefined to include
environmentally and socially responsible investment.
Sustainability Banking - an African context
vi) Corporate governance
Corruption is high; and levels of transparency, reporting and
accountability vary markedly across the continent. Financial
sector governance - i.e., regulation and supervision,
transparency, and contract enforcement - will also require
sustained attention if sustainability banking is to become a
reality in Africa. The emphasis on sustainability reporting in
South Africa's King II report is a strong indication of future
direction in relation to the business case around
sustainability issues. The ongoing development of codes,
similar to King II Code on corporate governance, across
Africa through frameworks, such as the African Union
Convention against Corruption will be essential in this
regard. However, the Convention still awaits fifteen
ratifications before entering into force. It promises to
strengthen laws on corruption by listing offences that
should be punishable by domestic legislation and outlines
measures to enable the detection and investigation of
corruption offences. The Convention also determines the
jurisdiction of state parties; organises mutual assistance in
relation to corruption and related officers, encourages the
education and promotion of public awareness on the evils
of corruption; and establishes a framework for the
monitoring and supervision of enforcement of the
Convention15.
Financial institutions can clearly play a vital role in
promoting sustainability. Analysis of the business case in
Africa shows a clear initial trend towards Sustainability
Banking practices through the growing focus on developing
products for the SME sector. Building capacity and
sustainability in this sector will create the middle class of
tomorrow and ensure sustainable economies. Though the
focus of the report is to look at specific finance sector
mechanisms that could be developed to promote
sustainability; these mechanisms still need to be supported
within a broader climate for change. New forms of
governance and sustainability clusters and partnerships,
involving a range of players are needed to ensure that
these practices are embedded and of value to society as a
whole. The report highlights a number of current
innovations on the continent that have successfully used
partnerships to develop sustainability banking products and
opportunities.
The following sections highlight current sustainability
banking practices in the five case study countries, as well
as presenting additional, more detailed, company case
studies. It is hoped that these practical examples will
provide inspiration for additional innovative ideas for
organisations operating not only in Africa but also in other
developing countries.
15 Transparency International (2004) Global Corruption Report.
Page 20
4.
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
4.1
Finance and Sustainability in South Africa
The financial sector in South Africa
The South African financial sector is generally recognised
as world class in terms of its skilled workforce, adequate
capital resources, infrastructure and technology, as well as
its conducive operating, regulatory and supervisory
environment. South African banks are considered to be
global leaders, and many internationally used and
appreciated innovations originated in the country16:
• SA was the first country in the world to offer interoperability of ATM cards through SA Switch;
• SA was the first developing country to introduce credit
cards in the late 1950s;
• SA was the first African country to introduce ATMs;
• SA was the first country in the world to introduce
biometrics on cards for payment of pensions; and
• SA was one of the first countries in the world to use
satellite communications for branch operations.
Euromoney (August 2003) ranks the major South African
banks in the top one hundred emerging market banks by
size (shareholder equity). It also recognises South African
banks in its annual deal awards (see below). In the latest
World Competitiveness Report (IMD 2003), South Africa is
ranked as the eighteenth most competitive country in the
world (for countries with populations of over twenty million
people). South Africa's banking sector is considered to be
the eighth most developed among these countries, ahead
of all emerging markets, with the exception of Brazil, and
also ahead of some of the developed countries such as
France and Japan.
“Since the early 1990s, South Africa has had a modern
and efficient National Payment System17 (NPS). The
efficiency of the system is proven by the fact that South
Africa was, and still remains, one of the few countries in
the world where clients receive immediate value on
deposits made at tellers. For the South African consumer,
this means that they earn interest immediately on
transactions processed by cash or cheque, while their
counterparts elsewhere in the world (including the UK and
the USA) only get value several days after transacting. In
1998, a real time electronic settlement system was
implemented, enabling real time settlement of payments.
This allowed high value transfers between banks to be
settled individually and immediately in central bank funds,
thereby eliminating the risk of non settlement by a bank.
Currently, more than 90% of all payments are settled
immediately in real time, with the remaining 10% settled
overnight. From a systemic risk18 perspective, this makes
South Africa one of the lowest risk countries in the
19
world” .
Finance and Sustainability in South Africa
There has been a rise in disposable per capita income
among South Africans over the last three years. This has
been partly due to relatively large fiscal transfers (both in
the form of tax breaks and social welfare payments) mainly
to the lower and middle income households20. However, in
2002, household savings as a percentage of disposable
income was a mere 0.4 %. While many people believe the
lack of household savings in South Africa is due to poor
after-tax returns on fixed deposits, it is perhaps this narrow
focus on fixed deposits that provides some insight into
reasons for the country's savings constraint. Low
disposable income and unemployment also go a long way
in explaining the lack of savings in South Africa.
In most economies, the financial sector plays a central role
in enhancing growth and development. However, in South
Africa, the financial sector is confronted by a number of
challenges21 including the fact that:
• It is characterised by the presence of a few very large
institutions. Many of the smaller and foreign institutions
have left the market in recent years. Four major banking
groups (The Big Four) dominate the SA banking sector:
ABSA, First National, Nedcor and Standard Bank. The
Big Four banks now account for over 95% of the
country's retail accounts (25.7
million accounts)22, with a 15% growth in retail
customers expected over the next three years23. The
combined market capitalisation of the listed financial
groups in South Africa is R200 billion24 (US$30 billion).
• There are low levels of black participation, and
particularly participation of black women in meaningful
ownership, control and management, and in high level
skilled positions in the sector.
• There has been a limited response by the sector to the
increasing demand for access25 to financial services.
• The sector has not yet effectively provided credit to
entrepreneurs, particularly black businesses.
• The level of savings and investment is inadequate to
support sustained economic growth and individual
16 Paul Harris, CEO First Rand Banking Group, 2002.
17 The National Payment System is the centralised clearing system through which financial institutions settle claims against one another on a daily basis. The NPS is controlled and
administered by the Reserve Bank.
18 Systemic risk is defined as that which affects an entire financial market or system, and not just specific participants. It is not possible to avoid systemic risk through diversification. In other
words, even an investor holding a well diversified portfolio will be exposed to this type of risk. South Africa is regarded as having a low risk financial sector.
19 Bowes and Pennington (2003) South Africa - More Good News.
20 Iraj Abedian, Group Economist, Standard Bank Group.
21 Adapted from 'The Charter made simple', Standard Bank leaflet, December 2003.
22 PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2003.
23 The Big Four banks currently have 15.9 million retail customers, expected to increase by 15% to 18.4 million by 2006. (PWC, 2003).
24 West, 2003.
25 According to the Financial Sector Charter, effective access to financial services means: being within a distance of 20km to the nearest service point at which basic financial services can be
undertaken, and includes ATMS OR, being within a distance of 20km to the nearest device at which an electronic (other than ATM) service can be undertaken (e.g. POS for a purchase,
telephone for call centre fulfilment).
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Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
financial security.
• There is insufficient investment of the savings pool under
the control of the sector into targeted investments of
national priority, such as infrastructure.
• A large pool of funds circulates outside the formal
financial system, including but not limited to funds held
by 'stokvels'26 and informal traders, and in other forms of
short term savings.
• To date, there has been limited support for new black
firms in the financial sector by government and the
private sector.
The recently launched Financial Sector Charter aims to
address these imbalances and is discussed in more depth
in the detailed case study 8 in section 5 of this report.
Case studies in innovation today
In this section we examine what innovations in financial
processes, products or markets have taken place in South
Africa. The overview is organised around the innovations
that have helped to improve pricing assets and exercising
ownership; providing new finance, risk management, and
savings and transactions. Under each of the four business
areas, innovations are highlighted with specific company
examples listed below.
a) Pricing assets and exercising ownership
Financial institutions have collaborated nationally to
develop a Financial Sector Charter to encourage black
economic empowerment (BEE) and invest in previously
disadvantaged sectors of society. The Charter was
developed voluntarily by the financial sector, for the
financial sector and establishes targets and responsibilities
allowing the sector to track and evaluate BEE progress. The
growth and development of black business will contribute
to the social and economic development of the sector and
the country as a whole. More information on the targets
and scorecard for measuring performance are included in
Case Study 8 in section 5.
Several banks offer products to support environmental
protection and conservation. Nedbank established its
Green Trust in 1990 with seed funding of R5million
(US$770,000) over an initial period of five years.
Administered by WWF-SA, the local branch of the World
Wide Fund for Nature, the Trust funds a broad range of
projects with a significant focus on community based
conservation aimed at alleviating conflict between people
and the environment. Since its inception, the Green Trust
has raised over R47 million (US$7.2 million) and
supported over one hundred and twenty projects in South
Africa.
A number of retirement funds have extended their
corporate governance activities to include engagement on
environmental and social performance. Some use
collective savings to address BEE and development
challenges, as highlighted below. The funds mentioned
here range from the traditional SRI screened fund to more
positive asset allocation type funds:
• According to the Alexander Forbes Targeted Development
Investment Survey, released in June 2003, there are
about twenty one socially responsible investment funds
in South Africa, with a total of R9.3 billion (US$1.4
billion) under management. Of these, eight are unit trust
funds open to individual investors, while the rest are
institutional funds - that is, funds tailored to meet the
needs of an institutional investor such as a pension fund
or provident fund.
• Futuregrowth Asset Management's development team
has devised a number of detailed screening mechanisms
to assess potential projects to be funded under their two
Development Funds. The due diligence process
incorporates environmental, social and economic
assessments where all potential risks are priced into the
project evaluation. Unlike many so-called ethical
investment funds who use only negative screening
criteria (e.g. not investing in gambling or tobacco),
Futuregrowth evaluates the potential for a project to
make a positive social impact while minimising the cost
to the environment. The Funds' impact analyst assesses
the projects' potential impacts by evaluating information
supplied by the project sponsor, but more importantly,
checking this by an unannounced site visit, as well as
through external verification.
• Frater Asset Management manages the Earth Equity
Fund which seeks to increase its investments' value by
actively engaging with management to improve
corporate citizenship. This is not a screened fund as
Frater invests all types of shares. However, it uses its
influence as a large shareholder to urge companies to
improve their corporate governance and performance on
social and environmental issues. If Frater believes that a
company is not being socially responsible, it will raise
this at shareholder meetings and use its voting power to
influence corporate policy27.
• Sanlam's28 Development Fund of Funds is designed so
26 Rotating Savings and Credit Associations.
27 Theresa Smith, Personal Finance, 2002.
28 South African Life Office.
Page 22
that retirement funds can access so-called development
projects. The fund aims to raise capital to finance black
empowerment specifically, to enable employee groups to
buy significant equity stakes in large companies and
parastatals. It will also provide capital for infrastructure,
private equity and venture capital funds that are
managed by black investment managers. Thus, the fund
is based on positive asset allocation rather than negative
screens as used by more typical SRI funds. Of the three
thousand one hundred pension funds under Sanlam's
administration, about half are from black owned
companies.
• Old Mutual29 believes that pension fund trustees should
strive for a win-win situation by looking for high returns
for pensioners while simultaneously investing in
development initiatives. Old Mutual's Infrastructural and
Development Assets (Ideas) Fund focuses on bulk
infrastructure (supporting the sectors of air, rail, road,
sea, electricity, communications and water), social
infrastructure (including hospitals, prisons and
government buildings), retail property and finance
development. “There is a notion that development
investments are equal to poor returns, but this is not
necessarily the case” says Peter Moyo, deputy director
of Old Mutual. The Ideas Fund has returned more than
20% a year since its inception in 199930.
• Futuregrowth's Albaraka Equity Fund was launched in
1992 to satisfy the muslim investors' religious beliefs.
The fund is shari'ah compliant and therefore avoids
shares in gambling, alcohol, tobacco products, nonHalaal meats and interest bearing instruments. The fund
is listed in the South African domestic general equity
sector and has recently been awarded three Raging Bull
Awards for 'Top Performance', 'Most Consistent
Performance' and 'Sortino Risk Adjusted Performance' for
the three year period ending 31st December 2003 with
an annualised return of 33.63%.
• The Community Growth Fund, managed by Unity
Incorporated and Old Mutual Asset Managers (refer
detailed case study 13, in section 5) was launched in
1992 and was the first fund in South Africa to offer
retirement funds and individual investors the opportunity
to invest in companies that met certain standards of
social responsibility. The background to this fund was the
labour unions' fight for basic rights for their members in
the late 1980s. The unions felt that creation of wellpaying jobs is the greatest need in the South African
economy. Economic growth drives job creation, but the
unions wanted their investments to support company
expansion, not just the generation of profits. Companies
with these priorities and positive industrial relations that
recognise worker rights became targets for their
investment. Worker related issues represent more than
75% of the screening criteria which include: job
creation, affirmative action, training and skills
development, black economic empowerment, good
conditions of employment, sound environmental
practices, high health and safety standards and open
and effective corporate governance. Political
considerations and social spending are considered the
least important. Independent researchers investigate the
extent to which companies meet these criteria by
interviewing staff, management, and shop stewards. The
information is then translated into a score. Community
Growth does not invest in companies scoring below
50%, while those scoring between 50 and 60 % are
conditionally approved and reassessed if the fund
managers express a need to invest in them.
• The Women's Initiative Fund is managed by African
Harvest31 and was launched in 1999. The SRI aspect
comes in after the returns are made from investing in
women's initiatives. The fund manager donates 60% of
the initial management fee, and 30% of the annual
management fee to organisations working to prevent
violence against women and children. Investors also
have the option of contributing their six monthly income
distributions to a community organisation of their choice.
Returns of 14.4% were realised in the period since
inception (December 1999) to March 2002.
One South African bank has embarked on international
trade in carbon credits. Standard Bank recently
announced a joint venture agreement with UK based
EcoSecurities, one of the world’s foremost carbon credits
advisory groups. This should see the partnership paving the
way to eventual trade in carbon credits, a market worth
‘between US$10 and US$30 billion per annum by 2008”
according to EcoSecurities London MD Pedro Moura Costa.
Standard Bank hopes to realise opportunities to finance
carbon efficiency projects in South Africa and the region,
as well as trading in carbon credits. South Africa is
signatory to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change,
which, once ratified, will see local industry an active player
in the reduction of C02 emissions.
The JSE Securities Exchange has launched a Socially
Responsible Investing (SRI) index. Based on the
FTSE4Good index currently used by the London Stock
Exchange, the JSE's SRI index will act as a guide to
investors, without being actively traded. To be included,
29 South African Life Office.
30 Jeremy Thomas, Sunday Times, 2002.
31 African Harvest Ltd incorporates 3 underlying companies; African Harvest Fund Managers (institutional asset management company); Harvest Life (life insurance company); and African
Alternative Investments (hedge-funds company).
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Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
firms must show “a good record on human rights,
environmental protection and stakeholder relationships”.
Measures addressing the economic inequalities created by
the apartheid era are assessed as part of the index ranking
process, as is action to address the impact on the
company of HIV/AIDS. The index was launched in late
2003 and targets the top one hundred and sixty shares out
of the four hundred plus companies listed on the JSE,
representing 99% of the exchange's market capitalisation
(see case study 3 in section 5).
b) Providing new finance
The establishment of the FinMark Trust has been
instrumental in raising the profile of the unbanked
sector in South Africa. The FinMark Trust was created in
2002 by the Banking Council of South Africa, with initial
funding from the UK's Department for International
Development (DFID). Its mission and activities are
concerned with “making financial markets work for the
poor”. In pursuit of this objective, it aims to promote and
support policy and institutional development towards the
objective of increasing access to financial services by the
un- and under- banked of southern Africa. Retail financial
service markets in developing countries often do not work
well for the poor, and seem only to focus on the needs of
the relatively wealthy customer. Part of the work of the
FinMark Trust is to develop a detailed understanding of the
workings of the various retail financial markets in practice.
Research to effectively map out and understand the
landscape of financial access has been undertaken for
South Africa as well as other SADC countries.
There is an urgent need for low cost housing as many
South Africans are employed, but do not qualify for housing
finance through mainstream finance institutions. The
National Housing Finance Corporation aims to bridge the
credit gap by underwriting and funding private retail
lenders with housing finance and alternative tenure
programmes. This gives low to moderate income home
seekers who earn between R1,500 (US$230) and R7,500
(US$1,153) the chance to access affordable housing
finance to either buy, rent or improve an existing home.
Banks in South Africa are increasingly disclosing
sustainability and governance performance. The 2003
KPMG survey on Integrated Sustainability Reporting in
South Africa indicates that 85% of the top one hundred
companies provided annual disclosure on sustainability
related issues, with 35% of stand-alone reporting in the
top one hundred companies coming from the financial
services sector. Employment equity initiatives, social
investment prioritisation and health and safety are the
most frequently disclosed areas.
Public Private Partnerships32 (PPPs) are increasingly
being used to finance government infrastructure and
ensure more sustainable ventures. Although PPPs are not a
new concept worldwide, South Africa has successfully
initiated a number of PPPs in the last five years for
financing the development and upgrading of key
infrastructure. A number of innovations have ensured that
these deals have more widely sustainable impacts than
would be normally expected. For example: Government
announced its Integrated Strategic Rural Development
Programme (ISRDP) and Urban Renewal Programme (URP)
in February 2001. One of these URP's was Khayelitsha
Township, 25km from Cape Town, where now, two and a
half years later, the largest Public Private Partnership (PPP)
development of its kind is being initiated.
The first phase includes a retail centre, service station, bus
and taxi rank, multi-purpose centre, municipal offices,
sports facilities and one thousand five hundred residential
units. This all amounts to R300 million (US$46 million) of
which R250 million (US$38 million) will be funded by the
private sector and the balance by the public sector.
The project is a joint venture between the City of Cape
Town, companies within the FirstRand group, namely
Futuregrowth Asset Management and Rand Merchant
Bank; and the Khayelitsha Community. A unique
empowerment framework has been designed for this
project. A trust has been formed called the Khayelitsha
Community Trust. The beneficiaries of the trust are the
residents of Khayelitsha and will be represented by ward
councillors from the City of Cape Town and business. Once
the financial obligations have been paid off by the trust,
the ownership of all the components in the project will vest
within the Khayelitsha Community Trust. This is envisioned
to happen in about ten years time and will see the people
of Khayelitsha owning the entire project.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was one of the
first government departments to initiate a PPP solution to
its real estate needs, and this accommodation project won
Euromoney's African PPP Deal of the Year for 2003.
Arranged by Standard Bank of South Africa, and sponsored
by the Rainprop Consortium, the project has the highest
amount of empowerment equity in any PPP deal to date.
32 A PPP is a partnership where the public sector contracts a consortium of private sector companies to design, finance, build and operate particular public infrastructure such as hospitals,
prisons, roads etc.
Page 24
The majority shareholding in Rainprop (55%) comprises
companies controlled by historically disadvantaged
enterprises, and the deal incorporates an innovative equity
solution to fund this investment in Rainprop by the
empowerment shareholders. Under the concession
agreement, Rainprop will design, construct, operate and
manage the main 48,000 metre square building under a
twenty five year PPP. The campus includes seven new
buildings, in addition to renovation of existing buildings.
Total bulk development is about 52,000 metres square,
with an underground garage for one thousand two hundred
cars.
Khula Enterprise Finance's mentorship scheme for
SMMEs recognises the importance of developing business
skills in this sector. To support its small business
development drive, the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) has set up a number of institutions to support the
small business sector. Khula Enterprise Finance is a
wholesale agency that provides financial support in the
form of loans, a national credit guarantee scheme and
grants to small businesses. Khula does not finance
individual entrepreneurs directly, but through various
institutions such as commercial banks, financial
intermediaries and micro credit outlets. Khula was quick to
recognise that the success of the SMME sector does not
depend solely on the availability of finance, but that
managerial capacity and mentorship are of crucial
importance to small business development. One of the
challenges that Khula has faced since its inception is
changing the mindset of entrepreneurs. “There is a
common myth that once finance is available, everything
goes smoothly. Our experience has been that looking for
finance should be one of the last steps in starting a
business,” says Khula spokesperson Moeketsi Mofokeng33.
Khula has established a mentorship programme to ensure
that entrepreneurs are given guidance both at the business
planning stage, as well as after they get the finance.
All of The Big Four banks in South Africa have produced
sustainability reports, and all investigate and manage
environmental / social risk to some degree. Standard Bank
has established an Environmental Steering Committee
which is guided by the group's environmental risk policy. A
set of credit guidelines for environmental assessment in
lending has been developed and is currently being tested35
as a follow up to the audits completed by various business
units.
The King Report on Corporate Governance for South
Africa (King II), published in 2002, advocates inter alia a
shift from the single to the triple bottom line, embracing
the economic, environmental and social aspects of a
company's activities. King II is a listing requirement on the
JSE; and applies to corporations falling in the South African
Financial Services Sector; and enterprises that perform
public functions. It sets out a code of corporate practices
and conducts for corporations in South Africa on a wide
range of issues including: Boards and directors; risk
management; internal audit; integrated sustainability
reporting; accounting and auditing; relations with
shareowners; and communications to stakeholders. King II
has played a significant role in widening the definition of
risk to include sustainability aspects, and encouraging the
financial sector to assess, manage and report on such
risks.
The adoption of the Equator Principles36 by twenty three
leading international financial institutions confirms that the
role of the global financial institutions is changing. More
than ever, people at the local level know that the
environmental and social aspects of an investment can
have profound consequences on their lives and
communities. The challenges and advantages of adopting
the Equator Principles have been debated in each of The
Big Four banks in South Africa. It remains to be seen
whether and when one of them will come forward to be the
first African bank to embrace the principles.
c) Risk management
There has been a growing realisation that environmental
and social issues pose risks, which affect the bottom line
across all sectors of banking. Under the South African
National Environmental Management Act (NEMA),
financiers may potentially be found liable for environmental
pollution and other risks of a social nature34. Although no
case precedents exist as yet, it is only a matter of time
before financiers are included in the net of responsibility for
environmental damage.
33
34
35
36
Moneyweb Digest, 21 November 2003.
NEMA; S 28, the Duty of care and remediation of environmental damage.
Standard Bank Group Sustainability Report, 2002.
See Box 2.
Page 25
Most of the five million people infected with HIV/AIDS in
South Africa are in the prime of their working lives. The
effects of the epidemic are momentous - not just on the
workers and their families, but on companies and the
national economy. According to a study by Old Mutual
Health, the insurance arm of the financial services group,
treating workers with HIV/AIDS is cheaper for a company
than bearing the costs of leaving them untreated. As
workers become ill, they produce less and claim more
health benefits. When they die companies often have to
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
pay death benefits to their families, as well as finding
replacements37. “Treatment is now being regarded as a
cost effective option” says Stephen Kramer, head of
HIV/AIDS research unit at Metropolitan Life. “Even with a
high degree of failure, you still save money.” Still, HIV/AIDS
remains a challenge for the insurance industry and an
issue for government, which wants to expand services
without bankrupting employers or insurance companies.
According to Metropolitan's HIV/AIDS unit, the cost of
employee benefits (life, health, disability and funeral plans)
will double from 2000 to 200538.
d) Savings and transactions
A partnership between The Big Four banks and the
government (the Inter-Bank Task Group - IBTG) was
initiated in 2003 to develop a low cost transaction
account, enabling the banks to cover at least 70% of the
unbanked market in a relatively short time. Targeted at
people who earn less than R2,000 (US$307) a month,
this is expected to be used for services such as the
payment of social grants, as suggested by National
Treasury official Lesetja Kganyago as a basis of extending
banking services to the unemployed. The 2003 Finscope
survey into financial access in South Africa39 found that
78% of the population earns less than R3,000 (US$461) a
month. Government will provide a small subsidy to cover
the cost of a very basic generic bank account that all the
big retail banks would make available. The account will be
structured as a “first order saving solution” offering only
limited deposits and withdrawals per month, with no
additional transactions. The identical product would be
offered by individual banks, charging the same fees, even
though each bank would offer the account under its own
brand. In addition, inter-operability between the banks
would be designed, allowing customers to transact at any
bank, thereby increasing access. The account is expected
to be launched in the first half of 2004.
A further proposal of the IBTG is aimed both at individuals,
especially those without bank accounts; and government
agencies. It will allow the point to point transmission of
funds without the need for a bank account, or formal
banking relationship. The transfer would be possible across
the banking network, including any bank branches, post
office branches or other financial institutions such as Teba
Bank and Ithala. Government and / or Lotto pay points may
also be included in the ultimate distribution network. The
product should be able to pay for itself, with a “pay for
use” principle being applied, where the sender of money
37
38
39
40
41
would pay for the service, and the receiver pays a nominal
amount40.
A non-bank company in South Africa is working to improve
real access to cash by installing ATMs countrywide.
Before ATM Solutions started in 1999, banks owned and
operated all the ATM machines in the country leaving gaps
in the market. Now, of the four thousand non-bank branch
ATMS in the country, ATM Solutions operates about 30% of
those machines. The company is able to install ATMS at a
lower cost on retailers' premises where there is a need for
cash. Because it deploys and operate machines at a lower
cost, it does not need to rack up the same number of daily
transactions as a bank machine to justify its cost. The
company has a large rural coverage and is intent on
installing ATMs in areas traditionally inaccessible to banks.
It has signed deals with numerous retailers, and as their
networks expand, so ATM Solutions will be at the forefront
of deploying machines in their stores. ATM Solutions was
announced one of twenty finalists in the 2003 SA NonListed Company Awards. These awards, now in their 18th
year, have earned a reputation for showcasing the country's
top non-listed companies and recognising their innovation
and entrepreneurial skills, not to mention their contribution
to the country's economy.
The significant growth in mobile phone technology has
become an important additional channel for banks. Two
banks in South Africa already provide a free SMS41 service
to customers. This allows a reduction in customer enquiries
on balances as well as enhancing internal security. One of
the banks already has over three hundred thousand
customers who receive notification of over three million
transactions taking place per month. This innovation has
been recognised by the Council of Financial Competition as
one of five key banking product developments in the world.
FNB has introduced a mini ATM; a small electronic terminal
which allows withdrawals and balance enquiries and is
cheaper to operate than a normal ATM. A conventional
ATM costs about R300,000 (US$46,000) and needs six
thousand five hundred transactions per month to be
considered financially feasible. A mini ATM costs less than
R10,000 (US$1,500) and needs only five hundred
transactions per month. In addition, it can be operated on
a twelve volt power supply. GPS communications
technology has also recently been applied which increases
the range of the mini ATM, making it operational in
locations where there is no power or telecomms
infrastructure. More than six hundred and fifty have been
Dr Sarah Meyers, World Markets Research Centre, 2001.
New York Times, December 19, 2003.
See www.finscope.co.za for the Finscope study into financial access and behaviour of the South African population, 2003. This research will be annually updated.
Genesis, 2003.
Text messages via mobile phone. Banks are able to submit current balance statements, as well as records of transactions, via mobile phone text messages.
Page 26
installed in many under serviced rural locations and fifty
more are being installed every month. They are installed in
shops and retailer outlets and, instead of issuing cash, a
receipt is dispensed which is then cashed in the store.
These mini case studies represent some of the innovative
sustainability banking practices being implemented in
South Africa. This is by no means a complete list of
innovations, but serves to generate discussion, and
highlight examples potentially replicable elsewhere in
Africa.
4.2
continue to take action on distressed banks. In 2003, the
forex trading rights of seventeen banks were suspended for
a year, for continued procedural irregularities.
The Central Bank has also driven through certain influential
programmes, such as the Small & Medium Industry Equity
Investment Scheme44, aimed to boost equity investment
into SMEs. In addition, an Agricultural Credit Guarantee
Scheme has been implemented, issuing guaranteed cover
to qualifying banks, who themselves provide loans to the
agricultural sector where there is a 25% realisable
collateral in place.
Finance and Sustainability in Nigeria
The financial sector in Nigeria
Nigeria has one of the largest banking sectors in Africa with
about ninety banks currently in operation. The sector is one
of the most competitive among emerging market countries
and is known for its innovation and resilience. Nigerian
banks make up five of the top twenty banks in subSaharan Africa by capital42. However, while several banks
stand up to measure on broad international banking
standards, the majority remain weak and under-capitalised.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, only ten of the
ninety banks account for over half of the sector's total
assets and deposits43. Another distinguishing feature of the
sector is the level of ownership by the private sector,
directly or through the capital market, when compared with
the level of State ownership seen in the sector in other
African countries. Many of the leading Nigerian banks are
listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange and are the most
widely traded shares in the market. Further, a large number
of these banks are locally owned and managed, and the
sector boasts a number of highly skilled and experienced
bankers.
In addition to the ninety banks, the sector also comprises a
range of non-bank financial institutions, including over one
thousand community banks established to mobilize rural
savings, and over seventy primary mortgage institutions
licensed to engage in retail finance.
The Central Bank has increasingly exercised its power as a
regulator in line with internationally accepted norms, and
has implemented a series of tough supervisory measures.
In 2000, the number of distressed banks fell to zero, from
twenty two in 1998 following a series of liquidations,
license revokings and recapitalisations. While this number
has since increased again, the regulatory authorities
In 2003, a government committee was formed to
investigate and initiate a series of capital market reforms
while concurrently, a code of good corporate governance
was also launched. Building on this, the Nigerian Securities
and Exchange Commission has made it clear that it aims
to develop its own comprehensive corporate governance
code over the coming year. According to Nigerian Finance
Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the need for transparency in
financing the oil sector has recently emerged as a key
issue45. The President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has committed
Nigeria to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(EITI)46 as part of a wider campaign against corruption and
for increased transparency. If implemented, it is expected
that this would radically change the nature of the finance
industry in Nigeria47.
Finance and Sustainability in Nigeria
To date, the focus of the Nigerian financial sector on
environmental and social sustainability issues has been
limited. More recently, as with the finance sector globally,
there is growing awareness of business-related social and
environmental risk, and the necessity for these risks to be
actively managed. As yet, however, very few banks have
committed to this awareness in a tangible way, either by
building internal capacity or management guidelines, or by
adapting international frameworks and making them
relevant to the Nigerian context.
Many of those interviewed felt that it should be the
government, through the Central Bank, that drives
sustainability banking as a means to minimize both
perceived, as well as real social and environmental risk in a
manner that is relevant to the Nigerian situation. However,
the interviewees did concede that the finance sector has a
definite role to play in promoting sustainability investing
and banking, but they were unsure how to develop this
42 African Banks ranking: the top 100 Sub-Saharan Banks in African Business, October 2003. The Nigerian banks in the top 20 are Union Bank of Nigeria (6th), First Bank of Nigeria (11th),
United Bank for Africa (14th), Zenith International Bank (15th), and Citibank Nigeria (19th).
43 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2004.
44 See section 5, case study 4.
45 The Banker, 06 October 2003.
46 The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative was initially launched by Tony Blair at the World Summit for Sustainable Development and has gained significant international and finance
sector support.
47 The Banker, 06 October 2003.
Page 27
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
role. They also thought that the oil sector, as a bloc, could
have a distinct impact in this area and highlighted the Shell
/ Diamond Bank / IFC 'oil services local contractor credit
scheme'48 as an example of just such an innovation.
The interviewees supported the potential development of a
London Principles style initiative49 that could guide the
financial sector towards integrating sustainability and
improved practice. It was felt that such principles could
benchmark financial sector institutions against international
standards, whilst taking account of particular Nigerian
issues, such as access to finance for SMEs, transparency
issues in the oil sector, combatting corruption, and access
to financial services for a wider group of the population.
Enforcement would pose a key challenge, as would
ensuring credibility and substance to the principles.
Despite upcoming issues such as a government-agreed
virtual elimination of gas flaring by 2008, there has been
no development of alternative 'green funds', as has been
the case in other emerging markets internationally - such
as Hong Kong, Korea, India and South Africa. Many
interviewees spoke of needing to understand more fully the
implications of other initiatives such as the Equator
Principles50 and the impact these could have on the
Nigerian finance sector in terms of the lending practices of
local banks. They alluded to the strong emphasis on
sustainability issues at the recent Commonwealth Business
Council meeting, which preceded the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in Abuja in
December 2003, as being a clear indication of a shift in
international concerns in this regard. There had also been
interest from a number of local banks in the fact that an
emerging major local bank, FSB Nigeria, had recently
signed up to the UNEP Finance Initiative51 and that
environmental decisions had played a key role in the design
of FSB's new headquarters building.
A primary challenge for the finance sector is restoring
confidence in the banking system, and overcoming the
widespread public perceptions that corruption is pervasive
through the sector. Interviewees suggested that this could
be achieved by the development of strong corporate
governance measures specific to the finance sector, which
address not only traditional finance risk, but also
environmental / social risk and opportunity aspects. The
experience of the South African financial sector in applying
the King II corporate governance code and the
development of the Financial Sector Charter52 could provide
a potential starting point.
48
49
50
51
52
53
Another key challenge for the sector will be to create the
right regulatory environment for emerging issues such as
sustainability banking to develop in line with international
trends. A key approach would be to develop a business
rationale for sustainability banking in a Nigerian context
complemented by appropriate sustainability risk
management guidelines. Focal areas could include, for
example, improved access to financial markets for the
poor, and development of appropriate legislation to
promote sustainability investing and overcome the
perception that this is an expensive exercise. It was
recognised that the finance sector itself needs to be
proactive in this regard, and to develop the necessary
internal capacity rather than relying on the State to drive
the agenda. There may also be room for growth in low and
medium mortgage lending, and for formalization and
scaling up of the emerging microfinance industry.
All of these issues notwithstanding, Nigeria is viewed as a
leader in Africa in many areas of finance sector
technology, having been among the first to pioneer
internet banking services, mobile phone banking and
widespread installations of cash machines. There is a
distinct opportunity to link developments in smart card
and mobile phone technologies, to revolutionise access to
banking services in Nigeria. In addition, the ongoing
privitisation of a number of State industries offers
substantial opportunity to ensure that a robust corporate
citizenship framework is developed that is equally relevant
to the lending practices of the financing institutions, as it
is to the companies being privatized.
Case Studies in Innovation today
As with the previous country cases, this section examines
current innovations in financial processes, products or
markets in Nigeria. Again, these are organised around the
innovations that have helped improve pricing assets and
exercising ownership; providing new finance; risk
management and savings and transactions.
a) Pricing assets and exercising ownership
At present there is no use by private sector investors of
their equity positions to promote sustainability financing.
There is definite potential to bring in funds through the
Islamic development funds53 that have a broader
developmental objective. This is a resource that has been
underutilised in Nigeria.
See section 5, case study 16.
The London Principles are a set of industry wide sustainability investing and banking principles developed by the Corporation of London and endorsed by the UK Treasury. See section 2.
See section 1.
See section 1.
See section 5, case study 8.
Excluding the OPEC Fund, which is not available to OPEC countries, like Nigeria.
Page 28
There is also potential, according to SME Partnership54, to
link a sustainability requirement to the Central Bank
Small Medium Industry Equity Investment Scheme as has
been done in the IFC / Shell / Diamond Bank lending
scheme. This is a US$30 million facility to encourage
development of indigenous SMEs delivering services to
Shell. SMEs are bound to comply with IFC's exclusion list55
(i.e. not engage in activities included therein), as well as
avoiding Category A56 type projects, which are those that
have significant adverse environmental impacts.
According to Sec Trust and Capital Alliance, there is also
the potential to link pension funds to equity with a
focus on sustainability investing issues, as has been
tried in other countries, like South Africa. Pension funds in
Nigeria are traditionally under-funded with investments
often only allowed in government bonds. Several
interviewees expressed interest in tapping into international
sustainability funds as the focus of these funds shifted
towards investing in emerging markets. Sec Trust is
currently investigating the development of an Ethical
Investment Fund for private clients, who have expressed an
interest in these kinds of investments. Should this Fund go
ahead, it would be among the first investments of its kind
in Nigeria. The Fund's potential screening methodology was
still being discussed at the time this report was being
researched.
First Bank (one of the largest banks in Nigeria) stressed
there was a need to overcome the perception of
sustainability investing as being expensive. One way to
address this could be for banks to treat it as a loss leader
in the short term, in order to build up competencies, and
then assume a sustainability competitive advantage as the
market grew in the long term. They did acknowledge that
they could have underestimated the potential for
sustainability funds to perform comparably with other
funds.
FSB, amongst others, agreed that there is potential to
invest in green companies focusing on developing
products promoting reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions or promoting alternative energy sources. This
could encourage investments into other companies with a
strong sustainability track record.
FSB had also found that having a board member who
championed sustainability issues had allowed them to
develop a strong focus in this regard, and a greater
understanding of the wider business case as relates to
sustainability. FSB is the first Nigerian bank to sign up to
the UNEP Finance Initiative and, in light of board
recommendations, it significantly adjusted architectural
plans for its new headquarters for improved eco-efficiency
in the building's design.
b) Access to finance
One of the most interesting developments in Nigeria has
been the Shell / IFC / Diamond Bank partnership to create
the 'Oil Services Local Contractor Credit Facility
Scheme'57. This partnership was initiated in 2003 to
facilitate development of the local SME sector along the
Shell supply chain. It is supported by a parallel capacity
building and technical assistance programme, and the
recipients cannot be engaged in activities on IFC's
exclusion list. The scheme has aroused competitive
interest among other banks, but also concerns among
others that their traditional markets are being developed
and shaped by players outside the financial sector, in this
case Shell. There is the possibility to emulate the scheme
in other areas, but interestingly in this case no banks were
initially prepared to participate unless Shell put up the risk
capital. To date, the uptake by local entrepreneurs has
been lower than expected, but the mechanisms of the
scheme are being re-evaluated in order to encourage
broader uptake.
Most interviewees agreed that initiatives such as the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the
Equator Principles, as well as the corporate governance
framework being developed by the Securities Exchange
Commission, all have the potential to reshape lending
practices in Nigeria.
A further challenge to the development of sustainable
lending practices in the country is posed by bureaucracy.
At present, it is estimated that to fully secure a loan adds
40-45% of the overall loan cost, which has a significant
impact on lending to SMEs.
Developing the capacity of civil society to identify
entrepreneurs, and then enabling them to effectively seek
financing is another key opportunity. An example of an NGO
that has been successful in this regard is the Fate
Foundation58 which was founded in 2000 by Fola Adeola,
managing director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Mr Adeola
worked with local business leaders and the Ford
Foundation to offer new support programs to those who
wanted to start their own businesses. The programme for
54 See section 5, case study 5.
55 IFC's exclusion list (i.e. projects that it does not finance) includes: production or activities involving harmful or exploitative forms of forced or child labour, production or trade in any product
or activity deemed illegal, production or trade in weapons, munitions, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, wildlife, PCBs, radioactive materials, unbonded asbestos, pesticides / herbicides, ozone
depleting substances or pharmaceuticals subject to international phase outs. Activities such as drift net fishing, commercial logging in primary moist tropical forest or casinos / gambling
and equivalent enterprises are also part of the list. See www.ifc.org.
56 Category A projects are defined as those having significant adverse environmental impacts that are sensitive, diverse or unprecedented, such as large dams; major oil and gas
developments including large pipelines; and large port and harbour developments etc. See www.ifc.org.
57 See section 5, case study 16.
58 www.fatefoundation.org.
Page 29
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
aspiring entrepreneurs included affordably priced training,
as well as a business incubator and a small loan fund.
More than two hundred entrepreneurs have participated in
these programmes. A number of individuals interviewed as
part of this report mentioned that by scaling up initiatives
like the Fate Foundation, and encouraging partnerships
between government, the finance sector and NGOs, more
widespread lending to SMEs could be promoted. Several
interviewees added that the finance sector needed to be
more proactive and mentioned that an equivalent of the
South African Finance Sector Charter, addressing key
Nigerian finance sector challenges, could offer a potential
way forward.
c) Savings and transactions
Given the size of the market in Nigeria, there is still much
room for growth, particularly in terms of providing savings
facilities to poorer community members. As in South Africa,
crime is a particular concern to most Nigerians, and
carrying cash is viewed as a high risk. The development of
appropriate technology solutions such as cash cards,
mobile phone banking, and fingerprinting are necessary, if
access to financial markets for the poor is to be improved.
Several banks have already made a determined effort to
roll out the use of automatic cash machines beyond key
regional centres.
Several interviewees identified the need for an
independent finance sector intermediary, similar to the
Southern African FinMark Trust, to act as a facilitator
between the state, private sector institutions and NGOs.
Like FinMark, this intermediary would look at how best to
'make financial markets work for the poor'59.
Again, recent money laundering regulations were
identified as possibly hindering access to the banking
sector. The adoption by banks of 'know your customer'
policies would see the tightening of regulations as to who
could open a bank account, thus making it difficult for
individuals to enter the formal banking sector as first time
clients. However, given Nigeria's reputation, such existence
and enforcement of such regulations are vital.
4.3
Finance and Sustainability in Senegal
The financial sector in Senegal
Senegal's financial sector is among the better developed of
the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
It comprises of eleven banks operating in Senegal, some
five insurance companies and more than forty registered
microfinance institutions. International banks are
dominated by French institutions, with the exception of
Citibank, Banque Senegalo-Tunisienne (BST, a local bank),
and the regional Ecobank. Diversification of the finance
sector has not really taken place, with no substantial
development of leasing institutions, housing finance
institutions, hire purchase and retail credit companies. The
longer-term end of the market is also under developed with
weak contractual savings institutions and a nascent stock
exchange. As a result, there are few intermediaries in the
form of dealers, brokers, discount houses or merchant
banks. There are, however, a range of other semi-formal
and informal financial institutions, including a number of
micro credit institutions, two or three of which are quite
extensive in their scope, and till now have focused primarily
on mobilising urban and peri urban savings, and lending,
with some increasing attention to rural areas.
Being a commodity economy, the Senegalese financial
market is dominated by short term trading finance (as
opposed to longer term structured finance), often provided
on a revolving basis, where loans are renewed once the
produce has been sold at market. Much of the project
finance that does exist, is linked to state projects or large
state-dominated industries, such as the groundnut
industry. As the corporate market is fairly small, the
competition in this sector is tight. Retail banking is
particularly under developed in Senegal. The stock market
is in the early stages of development with only twenty
companies registered on the regional eight country index.
Senegal is part of the West African Economic and Monetary
Union (UEMOA), with the West African Central Bank
(BCEAO) supervising the banking institutions in its member
countries60.
Senegalese banks are generally perceived to be over-liquid.
This is due to the limited lending market and, in the case
of a few banks, as a direct result of the high volume of
international money transfers from members of the
Senegalese diaspora sending money home61. This liquidity
means that banks do not have to rely predominantly on
international capital, which may bring broader social and
environmental constraints, and so have not been exposed
to the same developments as other African countries.
Interviewees felt that the French owned banks had
contributed to this, by not fostering an atmosphere
promoting development in the area of sustainability
banking and retail banking.
59 FinMark Trust's by line.
60 Member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) include Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo.
61 Interviewees felt that if both formal channels and informal channels of sending money from abroad back to Senegal were combined this could represent up to 30% of the GDP of the
country.
Page 30
Finance and Sustainability in Senegal
The Senegalese financial sector has very limited awareness
of environmental and social sustainability issues. When
these are considered, it is mostly due to IFC or other
international investors' requirements, and the focus tends
to be on environmental issues arising in the large state
owned export companies; such as the use of accepted
chemicals on crops destined for European or other
international markets. Several of the large state companies
that produce for export are ISO 14001 accredited. Issues
such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, which may potentially have
significant economic impact on certain companies or
sectors, or reputational risk issues such as child labour, are
hardly accounted for in project assessment criteria.
The shared opinion of the interviewees is that sustainability
banking is a luxury that only richer countries can afford.
They generally felt that the responsibility for improving
social and environmental practice lies with the government
and that regulatory reform is the only tool likely to change
their practice. There is little awareness of the role that the
private sector can play in fostering an improved enabling
environment either through collective action, partnership or
endorsement of codes and standards. Likewise, there is
little understanding of the business case relating to
sustainability issues. Rarely are any opportunities
recognised for sustainability added value in the Senegalese
context.
Challenges to sustainability banking in Senegal include the
following:
• about 90% of the economy is informal (includes most
SMEs and microenterprises);
• the unwillingness of small enterprises to be considered
part of the formal economy, in terms of having to pay
taxes, is given as a key reason for why the finance sector
struggles to reach a broader market;
• only about 5% of the population has access to banking
services;
• there is very little industry subjected to supply chain
pressures, reputational risk, etc. (70% of the labour
force is in agriculture, which only provides 19% of the
GDP). Mr. Arfang Daffe (CEO of the Caisse Nationale du
Credit Agricole) estimated that approximately half the
population directly or indirectly depends on the
production of groundnuts (the buying and processing
company is state-owned);
• efforts to boost growth and reduce poverty will need to
pay particular attention to reducing the rural / urban
divide, improving private sector access to bank financing,
enhancing productivity and reducing labour market
rigidities62.
Notwithstanding these particular challenges, there are a
number of opportunities for sustainability banking in
Senegal:
• technologies being used in other parts of Africa, such as
smartcard technology, mobile phone banking technology
and biometrics (fingerprinting) could enhance access to
banking services. Abdoul Mbaye (CEO of the Banque
Senegalo-Tunisienne) felt that the introduction of such
technology measures would potentially facilitate a
revolution in banking access to the poor, but was
unaware that this kind of technology had been recently
introduced in Malawi and South Africa.
• the potential exists for banks to pool resources to
enhance broader business opportunities related to
sustainability banking. Examples might include the
development of appropriate sector wide risk
management standards (e.g. based on Senegal's key
exports: fish and shellfish, groundnuts and phosphate
products), or a common platform to facilitate access to
credit for SMEs;
• there is definite room for growth of the microfinance
market and the range of products offered. It is
anticipated that the current government / AFD63 scheme
to link SMEs to the finance sector will help to promote
development in this sector, by affording flexibility and
facilitating access to finance for SMEs. New
microfinance products should also be investigated;
• a more integrated microfinance system (linking formal
and semi-formal finance institutions) might also allow for
more flexible financing of SMEs (regulatory reform is
necessary to achieve this);
• the Central Bank covers eight West African countries
under the same policy and currency64: the right
regulatory changes would have a great regional impact,
as best practice could be shared quickly among the
different countries. If successful, the recently announced
Regional Solidarity Bank, which will focus on
microfinancing within the eight countries, would be such
an example;
• Interviewees felt that there is opportunity to capture the
significant influx of immigrant money and use this more
productively, as part of development funds or projects,
noting that this has worked very successfully in Tunisia;
• Interviewees felt that there was a need for innovative
62 IMF Executive Board Assessment concluding Article IV consultation with Senegal, June 2003.
63 French Development Agency. See section b) Access to Finance, for a detailed explanation.
64 Senegal is part of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). These countries each have a central bank that serves a common regional bank, as well as a common
currency, the CFA Franc.
Page 31
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
financing in the housing area. The CEO of the Housing
Bank, Banque de l'Habitat du Senegal (BHS) believes
that this is a potentially large growth area for banks, but
that it would require development of alternative risk
assessment tools and mechanisms, for example linking
mortgages to life insurance products.
Case Studies in Innovation Today
In this section we examine what innovations in financial
processes, products or markets have taken place in
Senegal. As with the previous country case studies, the
overview is organised around the innovations that have
helped improve pricing assets and exercising ownership;
providing new finance; risk management and savings and
transactions.
a) Pricing assets and exercising ownership
At the moment there is virtually no use of equity to
promote sustainability financing, which is not surprising
given the limited scope of the capital market in Senegal.
However, changing the access conditions on the stock
exchange to allow broader SME entry is a possible area of
innovation. A more direct option could be to improve
private equity flows going to SMEs, as has been done in
Nigeria65.
There is definite scope for increased equity investment into
microfinance institutions. At the moment, most of the
microfinance institutions are set up as cooperatives or
mutuals, and are not necessarily structured in such a way
that would open them up to the introduction of external
investment.
A number of interviewees felt that money repatriated by
the Senegalese diaspora could possibly be used to
develop sustainability funds, e.g. through providing
sustainability venture capital, private equity schemes or by
acting as social development funds. Senegalese people
living abroad are interested in supporting national
development, but feel that management relating to such
funds, both by the banks and the people implementing the
projects on the ground, is not always professional. Thus,
they often prefer to invest directly into their home
communities or villages through informal channels. To
change this perception, the interviewees saw a type of
effective public-private partnership, as a means to
accessing this money for sustainability.
65
66
67
68
b) Access to finance
Government and government supported organisations,
such as the Ministry of SMEs, Female entrepreneurship
and Microfinance; the Ministry for Trade and Commerce;
FPE66; ADEPME67; and the French Development Agency
(AFD) are working together to facilitate development of
the SME sector, using a three-tiered model. This model
aims firstly, to improve the competitiveness and technical
capacity of SMEs through skills upgrading and introduction
to technical appropriate partners. Secondly, the model
assists with clustering SMEs to improve efficiency in
accessing finance through market development, and to
ensure the necessary documentation is in place prior to
seeking finance. Finally, the model seeks to provide
support and incentives to the finance sector, to provide
different products favoring SMEs. There was also
discussion about the potential to develop an intermediary
facility, which would facilitate dialogue and action between
government and the finance sector, in developing the
necessary policy reform to encourage more widespread
SME financing. A similar model has been successful in
South Africa in the establishment of the FinMark Trust to
promote access to financial markets for the poor.
The regulatory framework in West Africa known as the
PARMEC68 law is very supportive of mutual and
cooperative based microfinance organisations. To date,
however, mutuals and cooperatives in Senegal have found
it difficult to access finance to allow them to sufficiently
upscale. In addition, their structures do not always allow
them to take advantage of funds that would provide equity
support in order to promote such growth.
At a regional level, the government-sponsored Bank of
Solidarity has recently been established to provide
microfinance and credit lines for SMEs. There is some
debate among bankers as to whether this will undermine
existing successful microfinance institutions in the eight
countries involved.
Another successful regional initiative is the Centre
Innovation Financière (CIF), a learning forum that links
together a number of microfinance institutions across the
eight countries in the West African Finance Union. The CIF
allows for specific products to be field tested in one
country, to minimize cost, and then - if successful - to be
replicated in the others. A recent example of how this was
used was an assessment of the widespread use of 'flash
credit' as a microfinance product. Flash Credit allows loans
See section 5, case study 4.
Fonds de Promotion Économique, part of the Ministry of Finance.
Association de Developpement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (Association for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises).
PARMEC - Projet d'Appui à la Reglementation sur les Mutuelles d'Epargne et de Crédit (Support project for regulations on savings and credit mutuals).
Page 32
to be made available immediately to certain individual
traders, mostly women, allowing them to maximize specific
trading opportunities as they arise, particularly where an
immediate and opportunistic sale has a significant bearing
on their ability to return a profit. This technology was
piloted in one country, reviewed, and is now being adopted
by other countries among the eight, with minor
adjustments to cater for specific local conditions and the
operating norms of the different institutions involved. This
kind of inter-country product development learning platform
is relatively uncommon in Africa and shows the potential of
using the UEMOA to promote innovations in sustainability
banking.
c) Savings and transactions
Expansion of retail banking services is a potentially
untapped market in Senegal, with only a few banks
having investigated this area to a limited degree.
Interviewees mentioned a number of reasons for this,
including: lack of motivation on behalf of the international
banks to develop this area of banking; high rates of
illiteracy in the country; distance from potential customers;
limited returns; lack of effective government enabling
environment, and lack of appropriate technology to make
this affordable and efficient. A number of banks
acknowledged that there was potentially a market in
Senegal for this type of expansion, but it would require
traditional models to be rethought if it is to be successful.
This might require a partnership between banks and
government, as well as semi-formal finance sector
providers.
The success of microfinance institutions such as Pamecas
and ACEP69 in this regard disproves the notion that this
option is not a commercially viable area of mainstream
banking.
At present, up to 25% of the economy is derived from
money returning to the country from the Senegalese
diaspora. A substantial amount of this money is not linked
into the formal finance sector, but is channelled through
informal Islamic finance channels. This is an extensive
money transfer system built on trust, where funds are
deposited through an intermediary in one country and
delivered, often within twenty-four hours, through another
intermediary in a second country.
Several interviewees also mentioned that recent money
laundering regulations could well have the effect of
69
70
71
72
73
further limiting access to the finance sector. The adoption
by banks of 'know your customer' policies would see the
tightening up of regulations as to who could open a bank
account, potentially making it more difficult for individuals
to enter the formal banking sector as first time clients.
Several people emphasized the need for the development
of appropriate technology solutions such as
smartcards, innovative use of alternative cashcards, and
mobile phone banking and fingerprinting, if access to
financial markets for the poor is to be developed,
particularly given the high rates of illiteracy in Senegal70.
A number of interviewees saw the need for government to
promote an enabling environment through legislative
intervention, facilitation and partnership of a second tier of
formalised banking that developed a strong emphasis on
savings as being key to growth of the overall savings base
of the country.
4.4
Finance and Sustainability in Botswana
The Financial Sector in Botswana
At the time of independence in 1966, Botswana was
among the twenty five poorest and under-developed
countries in the world. Its agriculturally based economy was
heavily dependent on cattle farming, earnings from its
migrant labourers working in the gold mines in South Africa
and foreign aid. Over the last thirty years, however, real per
capita GDP growth has averaged more than 7% per year,
allowing Botswana to move from one of the poorest
countries in the world, to a position as a middle-income
country today71. Its economic success is attributable to a
number of factors, including, mineral wealth (large
diamond deposits), political stability, sound
macroeconomic policies and close proximity to South
Africa.
Botswana's financial sector is relatively small, reflecting the
small size of the market and perhaps, the rigorous
approach to licensing and supervision72. The financial
sector's regulatory environment is one of the most
progressive on the continent. It is highly market-orientated
and non-interventionist. In February 1999, Botswana finally
abolished all exchange controls after a progressive
liberalization over a number of years. The financial sector is
dominated by a handful of commercial banks, all of which
are highly profitable. There are five commercial banking
institutions73, two investment banks, two state-owned
See section 5, case study 11.
See Teba Bank and Malswitch case studies (section 5, case studies 9 and 10) for examples of these developments.
IMF Public Information Notice no 02/126.
Magdeline Gabaraane, 2003.
Two are UK based (Barclays and Standard Chartered), two are South African (First National Bank of Botswana and Standard Bank Investment Corporation Stanbic). The Bank of Baroda is
Indian.
Page 33
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
development finance organizations, one building society
and the Reserve Bank. All of these institutions have been
profitable within a small, elite end of the market, and there
has been little incentive to extend their into new market
segments. Nevertheless, the number of accounts provided
by the banks has risen faster than population growth over
the last few years, indicating that an increasing proportion
of the population has access to banking services. In
addition, public pressure in early 2003 forced some banks
to make reductions in certain types of bank charges. This
development occurred despite the lack of government
pressure to expand coverage to SMEs and lower income
households.
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) was established in
1989. It has performed remarkably well during its first
decade, in terms of the level of capitalization, the value of
shares and returns on shares. However, the Bank of
Botswana74 has observed that the growth in the value of
shares and returns has recently decreased75. An interesting
recent development in the stock market has been the
existence of a number of dual listed stocks (typically listed
in either South Africa or the UK, in addition to Botswana)
that have come about as a result of exchange control
liberalization. Another recent development is the
emergence of an embryonic bond market76. Between 1990
and 2000 there has been a significant growth in pension
and life insurance funds. By law, 30% of these assets must
be invested in Botswana, contributing to growth on the
local stock market. However, there is little investment
opportunity for pension funds and the rapidly growing
insurance industry, which in turn has reduced the potential
return on invested funds77. For example, Botswana
Insurance Fund Managers (BIFM), one of the largest fund
managers in the country78, owns between 8% and 10% of
every listed company on the Botswana Stock Exchange,
which to some extent has aided the low liquidity levels on
the exchange79.
Population is one of the key determinants of the size of a
country's economy and the most important economic
building block. With a population of only 1.5 million people,
and one that is declining due to HIV/AIDS - Botswana has
the smallest population in Southern Africa and which poses
a major issue in terms of economic diversification. The
government is tackling the problem of HIV/AIDS
aggressively through the establishment of a national AIDS
coordinating agency that focuses on preventing further
spread of the infection, alleviating suffering and treating all
patients with advanced medication.
Finance and Sustainability in Botswana
Botswana financial institutions have remained solvent,
liquid and profitable, which to a large extent, can be
attributed to the central bank's supervisory role as well as
the overall stable macroeconomic environment. This excess
liquidity means that banks do not have to seek out foreign
currency lines, that might have social and environmental
criteria attached. This means that any drivers for
sustainability banking will have to be initiated internally or
from regional institutions with offices in Botswana.
HIV/AIDS is Botswana's foremost economic and social
challenge. The government is responding aggressively to
the problem through prevention programmes, and intends
to provide advanced drug therapies to all those in need.
Health spending was increased by 50% in the 2002/03
budget, but the long term cost implications of HIV/AIDS are
unclear80.
Well managed inflation and a stable political environment
make Botswana an logical country for possible innovations
in terms of sustainability investing, and offer it the potential
to become a regional leader in this area. Economic stability
allows for innovative use of securitisation to create
sustainability related investment and loan products that
promote responsible growth and development.
Co-operation between the government and the private
sector, as is the case in the South African Finance Sector
Charter, could significantly enhance access to financial
services in Botswana. NGOs could also play a much greater
role in building partnerships that improved access to a
wider array of financial services, particularly for business
and housing purposes to rural poor communities81.
Case Studies in Innovation today
In this section we examine what innovations in financial
processes, products or markets have taken place in
Botswana. As with the previous country case studies, the
overview is organised around the innovations that have
helped improve pricing assets and exercising ownership;
providing new finance; risk management and savings and
transactions.
a) Pricing assets and exercising ownership
Botswana is one of the best managed economies in Africa,
which is reflected in an investment grade sovereign credit
74 FinMark Trust Botswana Report Executive Summary see www.finmark.org.za.
75 Sixteen companies were listed in the first eleven years and the market capitalization grew at an impressive 30.5 %per annum. As at 2000, market capitalization stood at P5.2 billion
(US$1 billion).
76 Botswana Telecommunications Corporation and Botswana Development Corporation (both parastatals) jointly floated bonds with total nominal value of P100 million (US$20 million).
Investec (South African Investment bank) issued short term paper with a value of P182 million (US$36.7 million). Botswana Building Society floated a P50 million (US$10 million) bond in
2000.
77 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003.
78 With over P1.4billion (US$300 million) worth of assets under management on behalf of 80 pension funds.
79 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003.
80 IMF Public Information Notice no 2/126.
81 FinMark Trust (2003) Access to Financial Services in Botswana. See www.finmark.org.za.
Page 34
rating82. This situation puts Botswana in a strong position,
when compared to any other country in sub-Saharan Africa
(with the exception of South Africa), to raise funds for
investment in infrastructure and non traditional industries
that will see the economy develop beyond its core reliance
on diamonds. Banks could play an important role in
helping realise this goal, which is at the core of economic
sustainability for the country. The Botswana Public
Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA)
has recognised this potential and has prepared a
Privatisation Master Plan which is a blue print for some
thirty state enterprises to be sold. The plan comes as a
sequel to the privatisation policy of 2000 which set in
motion various economic reforms aimed at making
institutions more efficient. PEEPA is attempting to sell the
idea to government, civil society and the general public,
and recently joined forces with the SADC Banking Council
to introduce the concept of public private partnerships
(PPPs) into the country. The recent successes in such
partnerships in South Africa serve as excellent examples
(see case study 4.1 on South Africa).
A more flexible and diversified system of allocating credit
and providing equity could be developed to support the
emergence of Botswana owned small and medium sized
enterprises. The development of improved access
conditions for SMEs wanting to list on the Botswana
Stock Exchange, that could include a regional focus might
also be a possibility. Furthermore, it is within the power of
the banks to develop strategies that will ensure citizen
empowerment, and strengthening of the participation of
citizen owned companies in the supply chain network of
the economy.
b) Access to finance
Despite a relatively healthy and growing banking sector the
proportion of private sector loans going to business, in
contrast to households, has declined from 70% in 1990 to
45% in 200183. This indicates a shift of resources from
productive investment to consumption and corresponds to
the failure of the country to diversify the economy and to
develop a strong supply chain network of small and
medium sized locally owned enterprises. There was
concern by a number of interviewees that the banking
sector was unable to adequately service the possibility of
SME growth and that government initiatives such as
Citizen's Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) set
up in 2001, had significantly improved efficiency. Other
interviewees felt that such government initiatives were
82
83
84
85
Africa Monitor, Southern Africa, June 2004.
FinMark Trust (2003) Access to Financial Services in Botswana. See www.finmark.org.za.
IMF Public Information Notice 2/126.
Ibid.
Page 35
having the effect of crowding out the private sector as
funding was provided under this scheme at nearly one third
of the commercial rate, making it impossible for the private
sector to compete. One of the challenges relating to the
growing microfinance sector is that it is not explicitly
regulated by the government and no Usury Act exists. As a
result, very little is known about the industry as a whole
and limited assessment has been done of the possible
opportunities for consolidation and growth. Abuse of
borrowers is also more likely in this kind of environment.
c) Risk management
The quality of banking supervision in Botswana is felt to be
adequate84, and a review of the non-bank financial sector
is imminent in view of the recent rapid growth in this area.
However, the banks in Botswana are not yet looking
beyond conventional financial risks. Social and
environmental considerations are not yet on the banking
agenda, despite the impact of issues such as HIV/AIDS,
and developments in sustainability risk management in
neighbouring South Africa. Although some major
international institutions such as Barclays, are beginning to
seriously incorporate sustainability considerations into their
global risk management strategies, the localisation of
these sustainability concerns has to be realised in
Botswana.
d) Savings and transactions
Botswana's current levels of access to financial services is
low, though it is still higher than that of most other
Southern African countries. In 2001, 39% of the
economically active population used a savings account,
45% used time and call deposits and 26% had access to
current accounts85. Savings plans are the bedrock of a
successful pension and insurance sector which, as
indicated above, have both experienced admirable growth
over the last few years.
Botswanan's are - historically and culturally - a very frugal
people. One would therefore expect high savings rate
amongst the people of Botswana. Unfortunately that is not
the case. Many interviewees felt that banks themselves
(especially foreign commercial banks) are contributing through their banking policies - towards an emergence and
entrenchment of a new culture of unsustainable
consumerism and related consumer debt. While
Botswana's per capita income is that of a middle income
country, 40% of the population still lives in abject poverty.
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
4.5
Finance and Sustainability in Kenya
The financial sector in Kenya
Currently there are forty three registered commercial banks
in Kenya, including thirteen multinational banks86, six banks
that have government participation87 and twelve banks that
are locally owned. In addition, there are two non-bank
financial institutions, two mortgage finance companies,
four building societies, and forty seven foreign-exchange
bureaus.
Seven banks88 control approximately 70% of the market
share. The banking sector is emerging from severe financial
and reputational damage resulting from corruption (insider
lending), expansionist monetary policies, economic
recession and government debt in the late 1980's and
early 1990's, when banks and other financial institutions
stopped lending to the private sector due to the risk of
non-performing loans. The lack of corporate governance as
well as political interference in the banking sector
contributed to this situation. The new government (as of
2003) has placed an anti-corruption strategy at the top of
its agenda, and has embarked on a major strengthening of
its governance and anti-corruption institutions and
apparatus, including the tabling of key governance
legislation. The Central Bank of Kenya has promoted the
enforcement of statutory requirements, more stringent
supervision and increasing capital requirements. However,
Kenya's financial sector is suffering from excessive shortterm liquidity, caused in part by weak absorptive capacity of
the private sector.
In January 2001 the Capital Markets Authority (Stock
Exchange) issued new corporate governance guidelines89.
These set out requirements for corporate governance for
public listed companies and issuers of securities in Kenya.
They are both prescriptive (principles) and non-prescriptive
(best practices). Every public limited company must include
in its annual report, a statement by its Directors as to
whether the company is complying with these guidelines on
Corporate Governance with effect from the financial year
ending during 200290.
In the past five years, the Central Bank of Kenya has
moved steadily towards a risk-based approach to bank
supervision under the Basel II Accord. The new government
installed in 2003 has brought new energy into the banking
sector. The potential privatisation of parastatal banks such
as the Kenya Commercial Bank, the tightening of the
Banking Act, the anti-corruption strategy, and the return of
donor funds to boost key sectors of the economy, such as
construction, are contributing to increased confidence in
the banking sector91.
The level of bad debts or non-performing loans in Kenya
averages 28.1%92 with some banks reaching levels of
48%93. In 2003, six state institutions were responsible for
58% of all bad debts94. These non-performing loans have
resulted from politically motivated loans, poor risk
management, the depressed state of the economy in
general and problems facing particular sectors (such as
coffee production), ineffective administration of justice, or
pressure from dominant shareholders. In addition to nonperforming loans, some banks have invested in
unproductive assets such as real estate. Poor market
conditions and the lack of proper use of investment criteria
made real estate a risk for banks. This high level of nonperforming loans contributes to the high lending rates of
banks. Although there are recent signs of a pick up in bank
lending to the private sector as confidence builds, margins
remain high, and banks continue to be risk averse. The
Ministry of Finance has directed the Central Bank to
examine the feasibility of establishing a Non-Performing
Loans Agency to help rectify banks' balance sheets and to
consider using a tribunal with judicial powers to deal with
loans95. The Ministry has realized that a lack of intervention
will prevent the banking sector from recovering from this
endemic problem.
Finance and Sustainability in Kenya
It is no surprise that incorporating the principles of
sustainability into the banking sector has not received
much emphasis or innovation. A banking sector that is
emerging from two decades of poor governance, corruption
and a failing economy is in itself not sustainable. The
current challenge is to change the international and local
image of banking from corrupt and nepotistic; reduce the
non-performing loan portfolio; improve senior management
abilities and deliver value to the customer and the
shareholder. The most important challenge for banks at
this stage, is basic corporate governance throughout all
branches and networks. Without this in place, social and
environmental sustainability cannot be addressed. Having
said this, however, there are opportunities to instil
sustainability into the banking sector as the entire system
is being overhauled.
The majority of Kenyan banks do not consider
86 This figure includes those banks which are foreign-owned and not locally incorporated, and foreign-owned but locally incorporated (partly owned by locals).
87 These banks are Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd, Housing Finance Company of Kenya Ltd, Savings and Loans Kenya Ltd, Industrial Development Bank Ltd, National Bank of Kenya Ltd, and
Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd.
88 These banks include: Barclays Bank Ltd, Kenya Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, National Industrial Credit, National Bank of Kenya.
89 Bank Supervision Annual Report 2001.
90 Kibby Karathi, Chief Executive, Nairobi Stock Exchange, presentation to Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya , 21 May 2003.
91 The Banker, December 2002.
92 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003.
93 Central Bank of Kenya Monthly Economic Survey. 2002.
94 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003.
95 Republic of Kenya, Budget Speech, Fiscal Year 2003/2004, Hon. David Mwiraria, M.P. Minister of Finance.
Page 36
environmental or social issues a concern when providing
credit. Environmental degradation in Kenya has continued
despite regulatory mechanisms being in place. The
Government made a serious commitment in the 2003
Budget Speech96 to enforce the National Environmental
Management Act (NEMA) and ensure that Environmental
Impact Assessments are carried out prior to authorization
of new projects. To date, NEMA has not had significant
influence or enforcement. The larger multinational banks,
such as Barclays and CitiGroup, and the local Commercial
Bank of Africa do have some lending criteria (mainly
around assessment of environmental impacts of potential
investments) which have been passed down from their
corporate headquarters; however, these have not yet been
fully institutionalized into some of their regional operations.
The low level of savings in Kenya97 is due in part to the
large difference between the depositor's rate and lending
rate, as well as the unauthorized escalation of bank
charges. The high cost of loans has made it prohibitive for
the poor to access funds from commercial banks. However,
a significant portion of Kenya's savings is within the
cooperative sector, held through Savings and Credit
Cooperative Societies (SACCOS). Low transaction charges,
flexible procedures, and easy accessibility have resulted in
SACCOS and micro-finance institutions capturing a large
portion of the country's savings, although governance
challenges in these institutions may undermine their long
term sustainability. There are about thirty registered
microfinance institutions in the country, but only ten are
active. These have managed to reach a clientele of only
three thousand98. To remedy the situation the Government
prepared a Draft Micro-Finance Bill in 200399, which
proposes to confer authority to the Central Bank to license,
regulate and supervise the micro-finance credit providers,
especially those authorized to take deposits from the
public. No attempt will be made to convert these
institutions into formal financial institutions.
Despite this range of challenges, the future of sustainability
in the Kenyan banking sector is optimistic. The Kenyan
Bankers Association, a membership organisation of forty
three banks, suggests that in ten years time Kenya might
only have half the number of banks largely as a result of
improved governance mechanisms100. The surviving banks
will be those that manage to raise sufficient capital and
implement sound governance procedures, which may
preclude small and / or family-owned banks. The sector, it
is hoped, will be vibrant, socially aware and contributing to
a healthier society. The IMF's most recent Article IV
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
Ibid.
80% of adults do not have access to financial services.
According to Chief Manager of Credit and microfinance operations at K-Rep Bank.
Like the Privatisation Bill, this has yet to be presented to Parliament.
John Wanyela, Executive Director, Kenya Bankers Association.
IMF, Public Information Notice, June 2003.
Donald Ouma, interview, Head of Research, Nairobi Stock Exchange.
Page 37
Consultation with Kenya suggested that the authorities'
concerns about the wider spreads between bank lending
and deposit rates should be addressed by tackling the
underlying structural problems in the system, including a
clear plan to deal with the large non-performing loans
portfolio. In addition, the government was urged to divest
itself from the ownership of banks which tends to
complicate “the prudential supervision of the sector101.”
Another positive factor for financial markets is that the
Nairobi Stock Exchange has begun to include corporate
governance as listing criteria for companies. Shareholders
are starting to become more vocal and in 2003 a
shareholders' association was launched by the Capital
Markets Authority to create a forum for activism. Awards
have also been given for financial excellence in financial
reporting and discussions are underway to extend this to
social and environmental reporting102.
Case Studies in innovation today
As with the previous country cases, current innovations in
addressing sustainability in the financial sector are
highlighted here. Again, innovations are grouped according
to business areas of pricing assets and exercising
ownership; providing new finance; risk management and
savings and transactions.
a) Pricing assets and exercising ownership
The new government's apparent dedication to structural
reforms has bolstered interest in the stock market because
of the potential cut in business costs - stemming from
increased public sector efficiency and the removal of
infrastructural constraints to growth. Much of the interest
in the stock market is attributable to demand for high
yields, as government paper used to yield 14+%, while in
the last year it has only been at the 2% level. To date,
there has been no use by private sector investors of their
equity positions to promote sustainability financing.
B) Providing new finance
With two million Kenyans unemployed, and more than
fourteen million (almost half the country's population) living
below the poverty line, the informal sector plays a vital role
in creating jobs. Last year, the informal sector generated
thousands of new jobs, while employment in the formal
sector declined. This situation offers huge potential for
microfinance initiatives. Mr Moses Banda, Chief Manager
of Credit and Microfinance operations at K-Rep Bank,
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
points out that there are more than 1.3 million people in
the country who own small scale businesses but who have
no access to banks. A new breed of financial institution is
designing specifically targeted products to bring SMEs into
the mainstream (e.g. see DrumNet below).
Non-performing loans are sometimes the result of lack of
knowledge about business reality. In order to minimize their
number, it is advisable to offer SMEs business support and
development services, in addition to credit. Officers in
charge of lending to SMEs have to know their customers,
the market and the financial counterparts involved.
Financing has to be adapted to regional customs, laws and
regulations. Support services are not meant to be entirely
free, but can be part of a package deal alongside the
credit. In some cases mentor schemes take such an
active role in new businesses, that they can act as
guarantors to banks.
Pride Africa is a microfinance network providing credit
access to more than eighty thousand African SMEs in
Kenya and other countries in the region. Building on
research previously carried out on information needs
through its microfinance network, Pride Africa developed
the 'DrumNet' concept, an innovative means of
information exchange. Inspired by the efficacy of the
traditional African drum in spreading information within and
among villages, DrumNet leverages its strengths in
microfinance, together with modern Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT), to provide a one-stop
service point for commercial information, market making
and bank linkage services. It combines the Internet and
web-technology with its knowledge of local markets, cooperative societies, microfinance organizations and the
private sector. The overall objective of the program is to
provide poor farmers with improved access to new
agricultural technology, financial and non-financial
information, and a bridge to the formal financial system.
This will enable them to grow and diversify their
businesses, generate more income and employment, as
well as creating forward and backward linkages. The model
is being developed in a generic 'plug and play' fashion so
that it can be widely and rapidly replicated through any
participating cooperative society, microfinance institution or
bank. With the rapid and widespread use of mobile phones
in Kenya, text messaging services (SMS), are also being
adapted for low cost data transfer and capture.
Despite research evidence that small farmers do save and
are able and willing to pay market interest rates on credit
facilities, weak linkages between small farm households
and financial service providers remain a key constraint in
improving the productivity and livelihood of small-scale
farmers. DrumNet aims to provide the missing link between
its farmer members and formal financial institutions, by
acting as a facilitator or financial intermediary whose main
role is to cluster and coach groups of farmers, facilitate
information flow between farmers and banks, help in
appraisal and recovery of loans and mobilize savings linked
with participating financial institutions. DrumNet acts purely
as a service provider; taking care of many interactions
between farmers and banks, and building trust and
confidence between the parties. However, it is neither
directly involved in financial transactions nor in providing
direct financial services. Banks pay performance-based
fees to DrumNet factored into the interest rates to cover its
operational costs. The fees payable are based on loans
granted and fully recovered. The upside of this
arrangement is that financial institutions, which do not
have the structures or appropriate staff (trained agricultural
credit officers) to handle rural finance, could still do
business with smallholders through the virtual bridge
provided by DrumNet. This arrangement will provide banks
with opportunity for growth without crowding their banking
halls with the type of clients they are not equipped to
handle. The DrumNet linkage service will increase outreach
and loan volumes, improve recovery rates and mobilize
additional savings all at reduced transaction costs to the
banks.
Although DrumNet is a project of Pride Africa, a non profit
organisation, it has been designed to be self-sustaining
both in financial and operational terms. Enough revenue
must be generated to cover costs and retained earnings,
which shall be re-invested to upgrade existing Information
Kiosks and open new ones so as to rapidly reach scale.
Most of DrumNet's income derives from a percentage of
each transaction successfully completed between seller
and buyer. Therefore, building the client financial
relationship and credit rating is to be the main initial
activity to establish a transaction basis. Key to DrumNet's
long term success will be the frequency of transactions and
the quality of its database.
Since August 1999, the Women's Economic Empowerment
Consortium (WEEC) has been providing financial services
to Masai women, who traditionally are nomadic herders.
Loans are typically made in the form of cattle to help
borrowers restock their herds, following drought periods.
WEEC negotiates bulk purchases of cattle and passes the
Page 38
savings on to its clients. The programme links with a public
agency that provides training in management practices and
recommends cattle breeds that are better adapted to
pasture scarcity and yield more milk. The loans are repaid
by the borrowers mostly from the sale of milk or excess
animals. WEEC has grown to serve more than two
thousand one hundred families and has a zero delinquency
record. The programme is recipient of CGAP's103 pro-poor
innovation challenge award.
c) Risk management
Contrary to most microfinance institutions, which are
reluctant to discuss HIV/AIDS, MicroSave-Africa has
recognised that HIV/AIDS is more than just a health
crisis, and could have serious economic repercussions for
their loan portfolio. Reports estimate that at the current
rate, the number of HIV/AIDS infected people in Kenya
could rise to 2.5million by the year 2005104. The Central
Bureau of Statistics reports that AIDS has lowered life
expectancy in Kenya to forty five.
The care of family members with AIDS has tremendous
financial repercussions, not only in terms of medical costs,
but because of lost business income, as most care givers
reduce their income earning activities and draw from the
business capital to meet expenses. Although crises not
related to HIV/AIDS happen more frequently, they typically
come in isolation. HIV/AIDS on the other hand, triggers a
series of crises that require an entire arsenal of coping
mechanisms. In 2001, MicroSave-Africa commissioned a
study in Kenya and Uganda on 'HIV/AIDS, the Silent
Economic Crisis', aiming to identify general trends in
microfinance clients' economic coping strategies, and
patterns in their use of microfinance services. The intention
was to understand the role of microfinance services in
meeting the needs of their clients, and so develop rational
strategies to respond to the pandemic, including
identification of new services or products to strengthen
their clients' economic coping strategies. The research
identified a very clear sequence of asset liquidation in
order to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS. AIDS affected
families liquidate savings and protective assets first, and
sell productive assets only when they run out of other
options. The sequence is as follows: (i) savings; (ii)
business income; (iii) household assets; (iv) productive
assets; and (v) land. In the words of one client, “loans are
only good if there are no problems. When there are serious
problems, the loan becomes a burden.” The study
highlighted the need for product or service development
and refinement to capitalise on clients' abilities to plan for
future crisis (anticipate the need for lump sums of cash);
improve and maintain income flows; avoid selling
productive assets which would undermine future income
earning capacity and; retain access to financial services,
particularly post-crises. Specific innovations include105:
• Fluctuating loan sizes and terms to coincide with the ebb
and flow of business cycles;
• Allowing clients to miss savings group meetings as long
as they send in payments (many care givers reported
being dismissed from savings groups for non attendance
at meetings, unavoidable when sick family members
require care);
• Allowing clients the option of not taking back-to-back
loans - i.e, allowing for a 'resting' period, while still
retaining current client status;
• Allowing clients to take out smaller loans without
subsequent penalties;
• Encouragement of informal, group based coping
strategies to reduce financial pressure;
• Using a 'credit with education' approach to provide
HIV/AIDS education through microfinance institution
staff.
d) Savings and transactions
In Kenya's Central Province, a number of local
organisations have developed a microfinance model in
which they provide management services to group
based savings schemes, known formally as Accumulating
Savings and Credit Associations (ASCAs). These
organisations operate profitably, without donor funding, and
are expanding rapidly. The organisations providing services
to the ASCAs are known as ACSA Management Agencies
(AMAs). The majority of AMA groups comprise only women;
there are very few men's groups. The AMA assists women
to form a group and, from the first meeting, members
make a minimum monthly contribution. From the initial
meeting, savings are converted into loans to members of
the group, and may be either short or long term loans with
different interest rates. The role of the AMA is the
mobilisation of the groups, and a field officer facilitates the
monthly meeting. She may also assist the group to develop
its constitution and bye-laws and register with the Ministry
of Culture and Social Services. AMA field officers keep
accounts of group transactions, of which the group
secretary also keeps a copy. Finally, the AMA plays a key
role in arbitration of disputes and default management,
which members greatly appreciate, as it avoids the social
103 The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), is a consortium of 28 public and private development agencies working together to expand access to microfinance. www.cgap.org.
104 Kenya National AIDS Control Council, 2000.
105 For the full report see HIV/AIDS - Responding to a silent economic crisis among microfinance clients in Kenya and Uganda, MicroSave-Africa 2001. Available through ITDG Publishing.
www.itdg.org.
Page 39
Country Case Studies in Sustainability Banking
friction that may be caused by following up on defaulters
themselves. The group pays the AMA a service fee of 1% of
the value of the fund up to a maximum of KShs2,500
(US$33) per month. Whilst the clientele of the AMAs
includes micro and small entrepreneurs, their members are
also drawn from other socio-economic strata including
salaried workers such as nurses, teachers and civil
servants, as well as subsistence and semi-commercial
farmers. Hence their reach into rural areas is much greater
than that of formal microfinance institutions.
K-Rep Bank is a savings and loans bank for the poor
established in 2000. K-Rep was initially an NGO, which
realized that accessing grants was not sustainable, and
subsequently secured a banking licence. The NGO
subsequently became K-Rep Development Agency,
although it remains an NGO funded from K-Rep profits and
other grants. The transition from an NGO to a commercial
bank has been hailed as highly innovative and one of the
most successful microfinance schemes in Africa. As other
commercial banks have closed branches in rural areas and
subsequently blamed government for not addressing
poverty, K-Rep has managed to tap into the rural market
through its branches. K-Rep has enabled the servicing of a
huge part of the unbanked population in Kenya. With
twenty five outlets country wide, the bank has managed to
reach some forty thousand borrowers, 52% of which are
women.
Equity Building Society has a unique portfolio of savings
and loans directed at the poor. With two hundred and fifty
two thousand depositors and sixty thousand borrowers
Equity is the largest single microfinance institution in
Kenya. Equity has developed a network of thirty two mobile
village banking units to offer services to rural areas that
have no banking facilities. The mobile units (all terrain four
wheel drive vehicles) serve each area once or twice a
week, providing their customers in the remote areas with
the financial services they would receive from a branch,
such as bank cheques, remittance processing, loan
applications and many more. The customers pay the same
rates for their transactions, and are charged a modest fee
for the mobile access, which is less than a one-way bus
fare to the nearest branch.
The mobile banks use solar power to run the computerised
systems, the printers and the scanners that are used to
check the ID documents for account holders, or process
new accounts. The vehicles visit areas where mainstream
banks have discontinued the use of mobile banks, or
where rural branches have closed, as well as new remote
rural areas, which have never had access to banking
services.
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5.
Case Studies in Innovation Today
This section highlights individual innovations in
sustainability banking across Africa. Some are market
innovations initiated by the financial sector or by
government, whilst others are product or process
innovations developed by individual financial institutions.
Again, this is by no means a conclusive list, but serves to
demonstrate the range of sustainability banking practices
already found in Africa.
Case Study 1:
Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund
Public Private Partnership, Africa
Financial innovation
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a US$305
million facility, provides long-term debt to finance
commercially viable and developmentally sound private
sector infrastructure services in sub-Saharan Africa. EAIF is
a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Development
Finance Institutions (DFIs), donors and commercial banks,
where each group takes a different risk profile.
The rationale for EAIF is to facilitate economic development
in Africa in order to address poverty and better the living
standards of the people of the region by creating long term
debt financing that mobilises private sector resources for
infrastructure projects in mainly power, telecommunications
and water / sanitation projects for privatisation, or for
concessions for 'greenfield' developments.
The mandate allows it to invest in any country in subSaharan Africa, with the exception of Mauritius and South
Africa, which have sufficiently developed capital markets. A
number of regional funds focus on mobilising long term
investment capital for the continent's infrastructure needs,
but these still fall far short of the estimated US$30 billion
needed to bring Africa's infrastructure to an acceptable
level of delivery.
Impact on sustainable development
Going beyond short-term trade finance, EAIF is expected to
have a number of positive development impacts. Firstly, by
drawing in commercial banks, some US$120 million of
long-term commercial debt is raised, which otherwise
would not be available for infrastructure projects. Secondly,
Page 41
the financing of such projects creates business
opportunities by allowing local participation in priority
projects, such as in water and sanitation. Thirdly, through
co-financing with local banks and assisting them with
project finance deal structuring, the EAIF contributes to
capacity building in the region's financial institutions. Equity
provided by the UK government's Department for
International Development (DfID) leverages additional
funds to address a constraint to deliver infrastructure
projects in Africa.
A wide variety of borrowers can be considered, including
'green field' developments, privatisations, refurbishments,
upgrades and expansions, with particular emphasis on the
following sectors:
• Power generation, transmission and distribution;
• Telecommunications;
• Transportation (roads, railways, ports, airports, gas /
water pipelines etc); and,
• Water (supply, distribution, treatment / purification etc).
All projects to which the EAIF commits will be required as a
standard loan term to comply with World Bank / IFC
environmental, social and health and safety safeguard
policies and guidelines.
Key success factors and challenges
Poor infrastructure and institutional weaknesses in the
management of key utilities are hampering sustained
investment and growth on the continent. Strengthening
infrastructure is a priority to attract new investment and
industries. Africa's infrastructure is characterised by
inefficiencies and under-capacity. Ports, rail networks and
telecommunications services remain unreliable in supply,
and infrastructure services such as safe water, sanitation
and electricity are inadequate to meet demand.
Opportunities for private sector participation arise from
privatisation of state-owned utilities and new concessions
being granted to build, operate and transfer (BOT)
infrastructure services in SADC countries and elsewhere on
the continent. About fourteen countries have sufficiently
progressed with economic and policy reforms to attract
private sector participation in delivery of infrastructure
services, but the actual lending opportunities unfolding will
be determined by the pace of privatisation and
concessioning.
Case Studies in Innovation Today
Political risk and the need for institutional capacity to
implement PPPs remain real challenges to progress.
Although EAIF faces a number of risks, most can be
mitigated against through either insurance or deal
structuring. At the same time, the EAIF provides a unique
opportunity to mobilise PPP financial resources that can
lead to exploiting opportunities in the region.
Profile
The EAIF provides a significant source of long-term finance
/ debt for private sector participation in infrastructure
service delivery in sub-Saharan Africa through a PPP
between the development agencies of the United Kingdom
(DfID), the Netherlands (FMO), Germany (DEG) and South
Africa (DBSA) and commercial banks Standard Bank of
South Africa and Barclays. The Fund is managed as a joint
venture between the Standard Bank Group, Emerging
Market Partnership (EMP) and FMO; and is housed in
London. The management company provides back office
support, including due diligence, negotiating deal terms
and legal documentation, as well as, monitoring the loan
portfolio. Monitoring compliance with World Bank / IFC
environmental, social and health and safety safeguard
policies and guidelines is delegated to FMO.
www.emergingafricafund.com
Case Study 2:
The Nedbank Green Trust
Value-added banking products, South Africa
Nedbank Green Affinity clients do not pay a premium for
enabling donations to The Green Trust, and service fees for
Nedbank Green Affinity accounts are the same as those for
normal Nedbank banking accounts. Rather, Nedbank Green
Affinity donates money on behalf of its clients, based on
clients' financial activity.
Use of Nedbank Green Affinity banking products funds The
Green Trust in three ways:
• A percentage of purchases on credit cards is donated to
the trust, at no cost to clients. The more clients spend,
the more the trust benefits.
• Clients are charged a small donation for every chequebook issued, which is paid directly to the trust by
Nedbank.
• An amount is donated by Nedbank Green Affinity on the
client's behalf for every new savings account opened and
Nedbank Green Affinity donates a percentage of the
average daily credit balance to the trust - at no cost to
the client.
Impact on sustainable development
Since inception in 1990, the trust has raised almost R50
million (US$7.7 million) for conservation and supported
over one hundred and twenty five projects. These projects
have covered a significant range and diversity of
environmental interventions with a focus on communitybased conservation.
The Green Trust aims to:
Financial innovation
In 1990, together with the World Wildlife Fund of South
Africa (WWF-SA, a conservation organisation), Nedbank
founded The Green Trust, which aims to protect the unique
biological diversity of southern Africa and to counter the
adverse effects of unsustainable development. Funded
solely by Nedbank and its clients, it is hailed internationally
as a mutual benefit marketing success story. Through the
trust, clients are provided the means to contribute to the
social capital of the nation by using a range of parity,
value-added 'affinity' banking products (cheque books,
credit cards, ATM cards and junior and adult savings
accounts). This has created a win-win situation in which
Nedbank makes an invaluable contribution towards
increasing the amount of funding available for the various
trust projects.
•
•
•
•
Help save the environment;
Undertake rehabilitation where damage has occurred;
Protect natural systems, ecology and biological diversity;
Focus on community-based education and nature
conservation;
• Protect endangered species; and
• Conserve South Africa's forests and water resources.
Funding is allocated to the following areas: Sustainable
Use, Urban Greening, Species Conservation, Pollution
Prevention, Protected Areas, Legislation, Alien Control and
Conservation Awareness. Funds are spread throughout the
country, and through other parts of Southern Africa, and
cover conservation of all types of ecological zones in the
sub-continent.
Page 42
Company profile
Nedbank is one of the largest and most well diversified
banks in South Africa offering a wide range of services in
retail, private banking and corporate banking. Nedbank
forms part of the Nedcor group which is one of South
Africa's leading financial organisations with assets in excess
of R250 billion (US$38 billion). Its holding company,
Nedcor Limited, is listed on the JSE and holds four banking
licenses (three local and one international). Nedcor has an
international presence through outlets in London, Isle of
Man, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and sub-Saharan
Africa. www.nedcor.co.za
Case Study 3:
Examples of Green Trust-funded projects range from
environmental education through tree planting and food
gardening in poorer urban environments, to working with
subsistence-level farmers in South Africa's Eastern Cape
province to achieve higher levels of environmentally
sustainable agricultural productivity, to ensuring that
communities around South Africa's Greater St Lucia
Wetland Park are able to derive socio-economic benefits
from the park and thus contribute to its protection and
long-term sustainability. Current species-based projects
include work with cheetah, wild dog, blue swallow, ground
hornbills and southern right whales, among others.
In addition, Green Trust Awards are presented annually by
Nedbank, with the aim of raising awareness of, and lauding
the environmental achievements of individuals,
communities, NGOs and companies who have made
significant contributions to wildlife and environmental
conservation. Entries are judged on what the projects have
achieved, relative to the resources at their disposal. This
allows schools, communities, individuals, and small
organisations to compete against others with more
capacity.
Key success factors and challenges
Moving forward, the Green Trust aims to continue to
expand the reach of its projects, in line with developments
in conservation strategies locally and internationally. Key
challenges such as achieving poverty eradication, shifting
to sustainable consumption and production, and
maintaining and restoring the integrity of ecosystems, will
be faced in partnership with Nedbank, as the Green Trust
continues to play a vital role in balancing the interests of
man and the environment.
106 See section c Risk Management, included in the South African case study (section 4.1).
107 The companies that comprise the ALSI - The All Share Index.
Page 43
The Johannesburg Securities Exchange Socially
Responsible Investment Index
Sustainability Research and Intelligence (Pty) (Ltd), South
Africa
Financial innovation
In South Africa, the King Code on Corporate Governance
(King Code)106 has shifted company behaviour in that
business is now required, to a far greater extent than ever
before, to account for and report on its non-financial risks
and social / environmental impacts. Indeed, given the
socio-economic imperatives of South Africa, local
companies have already made significant strides in the
corporate social responsibility (CSR) arena and deserve
more recognition for their efforts. South African companies
are also acknowledging that this is becoming a
fundamental part of doing business. It was against this
background that the Johannesburg Securities Exchange
(JSE) decided to launch an SRI index for ± 160 South
African listed companies107.
The JSE's Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index aims
to promote and enhance good corporate sustainability
practices in South Africa. The Index intends initially to
include companies in the SADC region, but ultimately is
expected to spread into the rest of Africa. The Index will
assist substantially in raising capacity in both the corporate
sector and in civil society, and in increasing awareness of
the importance of sustainability.
Launched in May 2004, the Index reflects widely accepted
sustainability practices and ranks those listed companies
relative to their sustainability practices. In order to qualify
Case Studies in Innovation Today
for the Index, companies need to demonstrate that they
meet the requisite criteria designed to recognise the
integration of principles of sustainability into core business
function. The Index will thus facilitate investment in
companies that pursue and practice the principles of
sustainability.
The Index is partly based upon elements of the UK's
'FTSE4Good' Philosophy and Criteria. Simultaneously, the
Index reflects the complex nature of sustainability in South
Africa. It also considers the corporate governance aspect
(as opposed only to the triple bottom line) and how
companies are integrating its imperatives.
Impact on sustainable development
The key impact on sustainable development arising from
the establishment of the JSE SRI Index will be the
mainstreaming of sustainability issues in company
practices. In addition, the index will achieve the following:
• A reduction in the degree of negative social and
environmental impacts over time;
• An increase in the receptiveness and responsiveness of
companies to growing shareholder and stakeholder
needs and concerns;
• Increased competitiveness in addressing sustainability
among companies, and therefore an overall
improvement in performance across sectors or
industries;
• For the financial sector in South Africa, a means to
demonstrate how obligations of the Financial Charter are
being met and to trumpet good performance and high
scores;
• Development of a means of tracking performance and
progress over time in meeting sustainability targets; and
• Further facilitate investment into South African equities
by investors seeking companies with credible
sustainability practices.
Key success factors and challenges
Critical to the success of the Index is a credible research
organisation that can investigate and quantify company
sustainability performance. Given the youth of the South
African SRI sector, there is no such established data
provider in South Africa. The JSE has appointed
independent consulting organisation Sustainability
Research and Intelligence Ltd (SR&I), to fulfil this role.
The JSE is optimistic that the Index will contribute
materially to the mainstreaming of company sustainable
business, which will facilitate the development of SRI as an
asset class in South Africa, thereby increasing incentives
for better business risk management. The Index is in part
comprised of company response to and attitude toward
South Africa's 'transformation' agenda. The issues that
comprise this - broad-based economic empowerment,
affirmative procurement and prioritising health-related
issues - are incorporated in the Index Criteria and thus
affect the ranking of companies on the Index. Companies
who are playing a role in reducing poverty through
sustainable business practices will consequently be
identified and incentivised through the positive impact of
their Index ranking.
Consequently, the Index will enhance the contribution that
the financial sector can make to the reduction of poverty
via the following:
• Improving transparency and accountability within the
private sector;
• Enhancing the prominence of triple bottom line
reporting;
• Making sustainability a key criterion of the valuation
process of stock market analysts;
• Making sustainability performance an accepted
component of the risk management process employed
by asset managers and pension fund trustees;
• Increasing shareholder awareness of corporate behaviour
and in so doing, catalysing greater stakeholder activism;
• Encouraging companies to devote more resources to
their small business support programmes and
empowerment considerations in their procurement
activities; and
• Identifying those companies who are making positive
contributions to the overall development of South Africa
and thus strengthening their business case.
By creating an incentive for companies to quantify their
social, economic and environmental impacts, the Index will
result in a more realistic and transparent assessment of
the role that companies play in contributing towards
sustainable development. Based on the experience of more
mature financial markets, inherent benefits arise from a
more accessible and transparent financial system,
including community upliftment, job creation and poverty
alleviation. Although it will not directly lead to the
development of specific services for poorer people, women
or minority groups, it will result in awareness generation
Page 44
and capacity building amongst a wider range of
stakeholders whose function is aimed at reducing poverty
and increasing the level of participation of poorer people,
women and minority groups in the economy.
At the time of going to press, the index comprised fifty one
companies out of the top one hundred and sixty on the
exchange. A total of sixty nine companies volunteered to
participate in the index assessment process, and these
included five companies with listed subsidiaries. Thirty one
of the top forty companies are represented, along with
seventeen of the mid-cap companies, and three small cap
companies. Some companies who were expected to
participate did not volunteer for the index, or failed to
qualify, including nine of the top forty. The participating
companies are not yet ranked according to overall
performance, or performance by sector or area (e.g.
corporate governance, environment, society etc). It is
expected that some form of ranking on the Index will be
undertaken in subsequent rounds.
Case Study 4:
Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment
Scheme
Nigerian process to drive SME equity investment
Financial innovation
The Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment
Scheme (SMIEIS) was part of a Central Bank directive to
all Nigerian based banks requiring them to set aside108 10%
of their pre-tax profits for investment in Small and Medium
Industries (SMIs), excluding trading companies, that qualify
under the scheme. Investments are to be separated from
other assets on the balance sheet, with the investment exit
after a minimum of three years. Funds are to be invested
as equity, either as a cash injection, and / or conversion of
existing debts owed to participating banks. Additional funds
could be provided by banks by way of loans. In addition,
the following tax reforms and incentives have been
proposed:
The main risks to the initiative are as follows:
• That the initial launch will not be followed up with an
adequate ranking mechanism allowing fund managers to
use it as a legitimate tracking device for their
investments.
• Sustainability investment remains a fringe asset class.
However, the experience of more mature economies is
that while SRI remains a small component of assets
under management, growth of this sector remains
positive.
Company profile
SR&I is the data provider to the JSE SRI Index. It is an
independent research institution, whose mandate is to
supply the financial services sector with non-financial
research. Although SR&I is newly constituted, the
company's partners are all leaders in their fields, having
provided expertise to clients from a range of different
sectors. www.sr-i.za.com, [email protected]
• Tax rate of SMIs reduced to 10%;
• Banks contribution to enjoy a 100% investment
allowance;
• Five year tax holidays to SMIs under SMIEIS; and
• Funds divested under SMIEIS exempt from Capital Gains
Tax.
Divested funds shall be invested back into shareholders'
funds and shall not be subjected to tax. Annual reserves
must be invested within twelve months or else the Bankers'
Committee will apply sanctions. The Bankers' Committee
will review the scheme within five years.
Impact on sustainable development
When properly supported, small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) foster a culture of entrepreneurship.
SME growth is important for economic and social
development. One of the most powerful forces for the
reduction of poverty is through the diversification and
strengthening of the economic base. Public and private
policy support of SMEs is also most effective when SMEs
are part of the formal sector and a key objective of the
scheme is to encourage the migration of SMEs into the
formal sector.
SMEs in Nigeria have also traditionally struggled to access
appropriate financing, as what little finance is available is
108 As of June 2001.
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Case Studies in Innovation Today
often short-term in nature. It is also tends to be in the form
of debt rather than equity, requiring a significant degree of
upfront collateral as well as imposing onerous interest
repayment regimes on the SMEs in the early stages of
growth.
Key success factors and challenges
To be successful, the scheme will have to be
complemented by the development of an effective enabling
environment at both the macro and micro level. The
identification and development of appropriate support
services for capacity building and technical upgrading are
key. Professional management of the funds with due
cognisance of equity issues as they relate to SMEs is also
important for success. An important challenge is for the
fund to be regarded as a professional private sector fund,
rather than as a government SME support programme that
might lead to increased defaulting of the equity
arrangements.
Case Study 5:
SME Partnership
Nigerian venture capital fund for SMEs
arrangement or a technical support partner. As such, the
fund encourages the financing of SMEs through venture
capital, and could easily be refocused to target those
companies with significant sustainable development
benefits. This is currently being considered by SME
Partnership through formal ties to the IFC and Aureos
Capital, a UK based development finance institution. Other
impacts of the fund are similar to those outlined in the
SMIEIS case study above.
Key success factors and challenges
The success of the Fund is exemplified by the fact that
eleven local banks have put their SMIEIS allocation in the
hands of an organisation renowned for their equity
financing rather than debt financing. This is important in
Nigeria where there has been little focus on equity
financing of SMEs amongst commercial banks, and so the
impact of a pooled resource allows for a more targeted
impact. There are a number of challenges if the Fund is to
be successful in the long-term. Firstly, a strong enabling
environment must exist, starting with appropriate legislative
reform by government to support the SMIEIS initiative.
SME Partnership has been active in lobbying government
on SME issues and in setting up the Venture Capital
Association of Nigeria.
Financial innovation
SME Partnership was established in September 2001 to
make equity and equity-related investments in the small
and medium sized enterprises (SME) sector of the Nigerian
economy. SME Partnership is targeted at funds available
from local banks for the Small and Medium Industries
Equity Investment Scheme (SMIEIS). The SME Partnership
fund is designed to only fund equity investments in SMEs
that qualify for funding under SMIEIS. Typical equity
ownership is 25-50% with minimum investment returns of
30% IIR. Investor profile includes eleven Nigerian based
banks and SME Manager Ltd. Total funds under
management are US$25 - 30 million dollars, of which
US$7 million has currently been disbursed.
Impact on sustainable development
The business culture in Nigeria is highly entrepreneurial
and individualistic and, therefore, a key role of the fund is
to act as a knowledge broker. The fund builds capacity in
the SMEs significantly, by facilitating access to appropriate
local or international expertise, or by arranging an equity
partnership - often in the form of a franchising
A second challenge is getting SME management to
understand the competitive drivers operating at a regional
and international level, and therefore, the importance of
securing the technical support to achieve the necessary
return on investment. Other challenges are similar to any
venture capital fund, and include issues such as defining
the SME's value and having a clear exit strategy. The final
challenge for SME Partnership will be to move from
traditional venture capital, with its fringe sustainable
development impacts as outlined above, towards
sustainability venture capital, thus offering viable
opportunities for international sustainability investors.
Company profile
SME Manager Limited ("SML") is a private equity
investment firm established in August 2001. An initiative of
African Capital Alliance it is an offshore affiliation of SME
Manager Ltd, SME Fund Advisors Limited, manages a
private equity fund, SME Partnership. With target aggregate
capital commitment of over N3 billion, SME Partnership
seeks to make equity-related investments in the SME
sector of the Nigerian economy. SML's approach is to
Page 46
partner with exceptional management teams, with
significant equity stakes, in order to build the long-term
value of businesses well-positioned in high potential
industries or market niches. www.sme-aca.com.ng
Keeping it Simple: Standard Bank's E Plan Accounts
Transactions and savings innovations, South Africa
bank serves over three million low-income customers, and
opens more than fifty thousand new accounts each month.
“Four years ago the mass market operation was running at
a cost-to-income ratio of 80% but the bank has cut this to
acceptable levels and the operation now makes money,”
says Peter Wharton Hood, Standard Bank's head of retail
banking. Since there is no back office and little paperwork
in the AutoBank E's, the bank's costs are nearly 30% lower
than at traditional branches.
Financial innovation
Impact on sustainable development
Providing banking services to low income clients is difficult
to do profitably, because of the low balances kept on
deposit. Even if moderate balances are maintained, the
clients may withdraw small amounts frequently, thus driving
up the costs of operating bank branches. Even with very
low deposit interest rates, these clients usually generate
losses. To try and tackle these problems, Standard Bank of
South Africa created an affiliate, E Bank, in 1994 to deliver
basic banking services to the poor in South Africa. E Bank
successfully addressed the common preconceptions about
banking the poor, by developing a high volume - low cost
product and service offering to meet the customer need for
access and convenience.
The central promise of the mass-market offering is that of
convenience. Bringing low income people into the formal
banking system allows customers to receive funds, access
funds, move funds, save and grow funds, protect
themselves and their families and qualify for credit.
Case Study 6:
In early 1996, E Bank was merged into Standard Bank in
an attempt to keep overheads down and the business at
break-even point, if not profitable. More importantly,
however, Standard Bank had realised that, in a new South
Africa, there was a need to de-racialise low-income
banking. There was also a realisation that customers
should have an equitable claim on the resources of the
bank, and should be treated with the same dignity as any
other Standard Bank client. “We were, and are not trying to
be a niche bank,” says Lincoln Mali, Director, Convenience
Banking, Retail Bank. “We are a universal bank and we
recognise that there is more holding the people of South
Africa together than keeping us apart.” E Bank clients thus
became Standard Bank clients who could be served
through specialist AutoBank E outlets (rebranded E Bank
outlets) and normal full-service bank branches.
Standard Bank now has one hundred and forty six
AutoBank E outlets in areas where its low-income
customers need them, offering high levels of assistance
and advice in an informal atmosphere. The outlets provide
no telling function - the emphasis is on electronic account
opening and instant card issue, and assisted ATM banking.
Through the AutoBank E's and traditional branches the
Page 47
The core Standard Bank low-income offering is E Plan,
which was specifically designed to meet the day-to-day
transactions and basic savings needs of low-income
customers. E Plan offers full ATM functionality (deposits,
withdrawals, third party payments, electronic funds
transfers, automatic cheque issuing), an embedded but
separate 'savings purse', and an embedded death benefit.
There are approximately 2.8 million active E Plan accounts
at present, with more than six million cash withdrawals on
average each month. E Plan technology won an award for
innovation from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington
DC, in 1997.
Each E Plan account has two “purses”: transactions and
savings. Money in the cash purse can be drawn at an ATM
on demand, while the savings purse is more secure and
almost replicates a passbook savings account, where the
depositor must be identified prior to withdrawal. With a fully
automated system, E Plan can monitor accounts and
reward savings performance. Customers with R250
(US$38) or more in their savings purse earn a 2% p.a.
interest premium and an additional 0.5% bonus if they
maintain that threshold for six consecutive months. In
addition, these clients become eligible for draws and
prizes.
Funeral expenses are a significant burden for families in
South Africa, increasingly so because of the spread of
HIV/AIDS. As an incentive to use E Plan, customers under
the age of sixty one who maintain a minimum balance of
R250 (US$38), or who do a minimum of three withdrawals
per month, and therefore generate transaction fees,
Case Studies in Innovation Today
automatically qualify for a death benefit payment of up to
R2,700 (US$415) to their next of kin. This covers at least
50% of basic funeral costs.
Key success factors and challenges
One key to making the electronic banking approach viable
was getting enough transactions per machine or outlet to
achieve economies of scale and lower costs per
transaction. AutoBank E outlets are located in high traffic
areas and operate a minimum of eight hours a day. In
addition, assistance to customers at the ATM's speeds
transactions significantly and allows for intensive use of
each outlet. It takes about eight thousand five hundred
transactions per month to break even on the ATM
machines, and the average for AutoBank E machines is
now comfortably above this. The ATMs are conveniently
located and Standard Bank is making a renewed effort to
site AutoBank E outlets and AutoBanks in unserviced
areas, where they can offer a lifeline to cash.
E Plan clients can withdraw cash at any bank ATM
countrywide (a network of two thousand six hundred
machines) and E Plan ATM cards can also be used as point
of sale cards (POS) at all retail stores that display the
Maestro sign. To overcome resistance to card-based
accounts, the AutoBank E outlets are conveniently located
and designed to be warm and inviting. Whilst most bank
branches in South Africa are built to maximise security with
bars, guards and bullet-proof glass, AutoBank E's, in
contrast are open to the sidewalk. As all the cash is
located in the ATMs and assistants are constantly on hand,
there is no need for tight security.
customers can also purchase FuneralPlan, which provides
a minimum R10,000 (US$1,538) lump sum payout for
themselves and their families, and a monthly income of
R1,200 (US$184) for 5 months, all at an affordable R48
(US$7) monthly premium. The bank also offers a micro
loan to customers who meet certain affordability criteria,
and a special education-intensive bond called DreamStart
to first time homeowners who qualify for a government
housing subsidy.
Another key opportunity is offered by Standard Bank's
recognition of the lifetime value of the customer. The key is
to recognise the growth and changing situations of each
client. “Some of our E Plan customers have been with us
for close to ten years, and we need to track and recognise
this loyalty, as well as expand the range of services to
customers with broader needs. Certain customers may be
in the low income bracket, but that does not mean that
they cannot save, or are financially illiterate”, says
Standard Bank's Lincoln Mali.
Company profile
The Standard Bank Group is a major regional bank with
over thirty seven thousand employees in its banking and
insurance operations. Based in South Africa, it has a
substantial retail and SME presence in seventeen other
African countries, as well as niche investment and offshore
banking operations in twenty one countries outside Africa.
It was the first South African banking institution to be rated
by IBCA, the leading international bank credit rating
agency. www. Standardbank.co.za
Case Study 7:
Each AutoBank E kiosk has a minimum of three staff
members, selected for their outgoing personalities and
ability to speak several local languages to help guide any
unsophisticated user of the ATMs. The help is intended to
be quick but pleasant, and the assistants provide a friendly
face to banking services. New clients can use their account
facility immediately. The application process is automated,
and it takes less than ten minutes to open an account and
receive an ATM card, thus leaving adequate time for
consultants to explain the basics of banking and key
features and benefits of the account. In addition, the client
is given a Stop Card that freezes the account when
inserted into any ATM to protect the account in case the
ATM card is lost or stolen.
In addition to E Plan, Standard Bank low income
The Community Property Fund and the Infrastructure
Bond Fund
Development Funds: Futuregrowth Asset Management,
South Africa
Financial innovation
Since its inception in June 1996, the Community Property
Fund has focused on the provision of finance for the
development of retail shopping centres catering to the
needs of under-serviced communities throughout South
Africa. The fund has invested in the development of
fourteen shopping centres located in semi-rural and
township areas countrywide. These centres are located in
eight of the nine provinces, providing retail service and
Page 48
products to a primary target market of approximately 6.5
million people.
The centres cater for a niche market of low to middle
income groups. They range in size between 5,000m² and
11,000m² and are typically anchored by supermarket,
clothing, banking and furniture retailers. The national
content within the centres averages 70%, providing a
stable and secure rental income. A minimum of 30% of the
lettable area is dedicated to local retailers, who trade
either as small operators or as franchise operations. This
provides a strong element of community participation and
forms a strong basis for economic development.
The Fund's objectives are listed as:
• to meet and exceed an average annual real rate of
return greater than that of the money market and to
remain 4% above inflation.
• to dominate the black emerging market in respect of
retail property growth through:
• the development of skills, and
• maximising the economies of scale.
• to strive for community upliftment through the provision
of services and the creation of job opportunities for
previously disadvantaged communities by:
• ensuring community support and involvement in
projects; and
• facilitating community participation by encouraging local
entrepreneurial initiatives with the provision of physical
infrastructure.
The performance of the fund, given its regional diversity,
locality and lower end retailing has achieved these
objectives in both the financial property performance and
the social impact on the communities it services.
The Futuregrowth Infrastructure Bond Fund is the largest
infrastructure bond fund (R3.2 billion) in South Africa. The
Fund is actively managed by Futuregrowth's Fixed Interest
team, and focuses on the provision of infrastructure and
services to disadvantaged communities. The Fund's
benchmark is the BEASSA All Bond Index. Funding is
provided to intermediaries, companies and projects that
target infrastructure development. It differs from traditional
bond fund management as it also invests in project finance
and structured deals. These investments are generally
complex in nature and therefore require specialist skills to
assess, price, monitor and manage.
Page 49
The Futuregrowth Infrastructure Bond Fund is a welldiversified risk-adjusted portfolio with approximately three
hundred and twenty four instruments. Two of the
investments are detailed as case studies in the boxes.
Urbanisation
Grace Bible Church
Established in Soweto in 1983, Grace Bible Church was
started with twenty people with a dream to one day have
its own building. In 2001, the Church's visionary
leadership, disciplined savings and perseverance finally
placed them in a position to finally start construction.
Futuregrowth assisted in financing the deal by structuring
a mortgage loan based on the Church's proven savings
ability, cash flows from tithes and management skills.
The deal was accepted on the dual merits of economic
returns and infrastructure development.
The multi-purpose centre, which can accommodate five
thousand people, is one of the largest private sector
community centres in Soweto. The centre runs adult
basic education and training courses, a computer school,
sewing classes and AIDS awareness classes through its
Itireleng Development Programmes.
Tourism
Cape Point Concession: Thebe Tourism Group (TTG)
Futuregrowth provided debt funding for the
empowerment company, Thebe Tourism Group (Pty) Ltd
(TTG), to acquire 50.1% of the equity in the Cape Point
Concession (CPC) from Concor Holdings (Pty) Ltd. The
CPC manages and markets the tourist facilities at this
high profile tourist attraction inside the pristine Cape
Point Nature Reserve.
CPC's facilities currently consist of the funicular tram,
retail outlets and a restaurant. By assisting TTG in
acquiring the equity, the transaction supports both
empowerment and the development of tourism
infrastructure.
Case Studies in Innovation Today
Futuregrowth Community Property Fund:
Economic Impact
Fund Return
Term
15.95%
1 year
15.28%
3 year
09.92%
5 year
12.98%
Since inception (31/07/1996)
Futuregrowth Community Property Fund:
Social Impact
CPI + 4%
04.30%
09.65%
09.23%
10.13%
Futuregrowth Infrastructure Bond Fund:
Economic Impact
Fund Return
Term
18.54%
1 year
17.46%
3 year
20.17%
5 year
19.19%
Since inception (31/01/1997)
• Development of 93,889m2 of retail gross lettable area in
rural areas, secondary towns and traditional townships
• Retail services to 6.55 million (15.23%) people
• Direct employment - 3,250 people
• 16,250 people indirectly benefited
• Development of local entrepreneurs
Futuregrowth Infrastructure Bond Fund:
Social Impact
CPI + 4%
18.07%
17.29%
19.92%
18.61%
• Facilitated the development and construction of over
200,000 houses
• Developed and maintains 9,200km of road network
• Facilitated the creation of over 10,000 jobs in various
development sectors
• Provides access to health services for 13 million South
Africans
• Is currently invested in R225 million (US$34 million) of
water and sanitation infrastructure
Impact on sustainable development
Company profile
Both Development Funds have proven track records of
providing social impact with sound economic returns in
excess of their hurdle rates or benchmarks. All
performance figures shown are as at December 2003 and
quoted gross of fees.
Futuregrowth, a specialist asset management company,
was launched in January 2000 as an empowerment
initiative of the FirstRand group.
Key success factors and challenges
Futuregrowth Asset Management's development team has
devised a number of detailed screening mechanisms to
assess potential projects to be funded under the two
Development Funds. The due diligence process
incorporates environmental, social and economic
assessments where all potential risks are priced into the
project evaluation. Unlike many so-called ethical
investment funds who use only negative screening criteria
(e.g. not investing in gambling or tobacco), Futuregrowth
evaluates the potential for a project to make a positive
social impact while minimising the cost to the environment.
The project must have a strong social impact, offer broad
based empowerment, as well as delivering market related
returns to investors. The Funds' impact analyst assesses
the projects' potential impacts by evaluating information
supplied by the project sponsor, in addition to checking this
by site visits, through external verification and ongoing
involvement with the projects.
The company structure changed significantly on 1 January
2002. Wipcapital, the financial services subsidiary of
women's empowerment group WIPHOLD, bought a 40%
equity stake in Futuregrowth. A further 20% of
Futuregrowth has been transferred to an Employee Share
Ownership Plan (ESOP). With every staff member a
shareholder in the business, the share option plan serves
as an incentive to both management and staff.
The remaining 40% of Futuregrowth is owned by FirstRand
which is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange of South
Africa (JSE) and the Namibian Stock Exchange.
With approximately R28 billion (US$4 billion) under
management, Futuregrowth has positioned itself as a
leader in quantitative equity investments, specialist fixed
interest funds, alternative products and socially responsible
investments (development investments) in South Africa.
www.futuregrowth.co.za
Page 50
Case Study 8:
The scorecard:
Element
Financial Sector Charter in South Africa
Human
Resource
Development:
• Employment Affirmative action and skills
Equity
development will attract
• Skills
points
Development
Financial innovation
In August 2002, at the NEDLAC109 Financial Sector
Summit, the financial sector committed itself to the
development of a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
charter for the sector. BEE is a mechanism aimed at
addressing economic inequalities arising from the
apartheid history of South Africa. Whilst the government is
fully supportive of the initiative being taken by the Financial
Sector, it has not been imposed or driven by government.
“There is no imposition from government, so this is very
different to charters in other industries, and it would be
surprising if the targets were not achievable... they will not
be an easy task, but nor will they create unbearable
pressures,” says Jacko Maree, Standard Bank CE and past
chair of the Banking Council of SA.
In establishing the Financial Sector Charter, emphasis will
be on broad-based black empowerment, through support
for black-owned businesses and financial institutions
through procurement and access to appropriate financial
services and products for all South Africans. The issue of
ownership transfer will be carefully handled to ensure that
genuine and, where possible, broad-based empowerment
occurs and existing shareholder rights and value are not
threatened. However, the Charter also allows for direct
ownership by black individuals and groups. The charter is
expected to have far reaching implications on how banks
do business. It will affect who they lend to, the type of
business they do, internal skills development and
ownership. A number of focal areas have been prioritised
and form the criteria for an industry scorecard. The banks'
contribution in these areas will be weighted to form a final,
annually-calculated score measuring empowerment. The
charter envisages that up to R75 billion (US$11.5 billion)
will be spent on financing empowerment in the sector, with
about two thirds of this specifically targeted towards
investments in low income housing, transformational
infrastructure, agriculture, and the development of small
and medium sized black-owned business.
Impact on sustainable development
In the long term, the implementation of the Charter goals
is expected to contribute significantly to national economic
growth and wealth creation among historically
109 National Economic Development and Labour Council.
110 Khetso Gordhan, Rand Merchant Bank Executive Director, in Business Day July 15, 2003.
Page 51
Impact
Points
20
15
05
Procurement
Purchasing from empowered
and Enterprise providers will earn banks
Development: points
15
Access to
Financial
Services:
18
Empowerment
Financing:
• Targeted
Investments
• BEE
Transaction
Financing
Ownership and
Control:
• Ownership
• Control
• Board
• Executive
Purchasing from empowered
providers will earn banks
points
22
Financing black SME
development, public
infrastructure, agricultural
development or low income
housing will earn banks
points.
Financing of BEE
transactions such as joint
venture, debt financing etc
17
05
22
Banks will be able to score
by transferring some of their
ownership into
empowerment hands and by
having black directors and
black control at boardroom
level
14
08
03
5
disadvantaged groups. There will be strong long term
positive effects if the charter helps to increase the size of
the black middle class, if there is more investment in
infrastructure and an increase in black management skills,
if new businesses are developed via SME funding, and if it
provides affordable housing110. Investments in these areas
also have the potential to create significant numbers of
jobs. Obviously, the establishment of a framework in which
the financial sector can make a meaningful and
sustainable contribution to the employment of the
historically disadvantaged is clearly in the interests of all
Case Studies in Innovation Today
South Africans. Legislation affecting the prudential
investment requirements of insurance and pension fund
savings will be revised to enable more investment in black
empowerment, whilst still adhering to proper prudential
investment requirements. On the procurement front, not
only are the financial institutions urged to use SMEs, but
they are tasked with developing capacity in them.
Key success factors and challenges
Equity ownership is likely to be prove challenging for South
Africa's largest banks, where meaningful empowerment
deals will involve very large sums of money. In addition,
there are a number of regulatory issues. Banking regulators
will not allow bank-controlling shareholders who are not
financially strong enough to stand behind the banks they
control; and the viability of even those shareholders with
more than 10% of a bank's equity is carefully watched.
Regulators have to approve any major changes of
shareholding or influence111. Whilst financial institutions will
be increasingly obliged to finance black SMEs, the
Charter's definition of an SME caters more for the mediumsized than the small enterprise112. Another challenge still to
be addressed by the Charter is the setting of targets for
development and delivery of life assurance products to the
poor.
On the upside, however, the establishment of the Charter
offers distinct benefits to the banking industry:
• The establishment of a policy framework will prevent
different government departments from imposing
contradictory demands on the banks as seen in the lack
of correlation in 2002 between the demands of the
Registrar for the maintenance of international standards
of prudential regulation, and the demands of the
Department of Housing for community reinvestment in
housing113.
• The framework will serve as a positive signal for
international investors that government and the private
sector can work together in a constructive way, while
maintaining best banking practice and contributing to
development needs.
whole. The Board of the Banking Council established a
Transformation Committee, made up of the CEOs of the
five major banks and the Chairman of the Foreign Bankers'
Association as well as a representative from the smaller SA
banks. The committee met once a week for the duration of
the Charter drafting process (just over a year) and
continues to meet weekly to direct industry issues related
to implementing the commitments made in the Charter.
The Charter was launched in October 2003, while the
targets apply from 01 January 2004 to 31 December
2008. A mid term review will assess the efficacy of the
process, and will determine targets for 2014. The
principles of the Charter will be relevant beyond 2015 after
a final review has occurred.
www.banking.org.za/public/industry_issues.cfm?iss=2
Case Study 9:
Speaking our language: Teba Bank
Banking the low income sector in South Africa
Financial innovation
Teba Bank is different from other South African banks in
several respects. It is owned by a trust, representatives of
whom are from the National Union of Mineworkers and
mine employees. This makes it the only South African bank
that grew out of a savings scheme with a trade union
shareholder primarily to protect the interests of the
depositors. Also, despite the claims of some of the major
commercial banks about how difficult it is to make profits
out of banking for the low income market, Teba Bank last
year showed a 26% increase in profit to R53.6 million
(US$8.2 million). Its return on equity, a measure of a
bank's sustainable profitability, is just more than 13%, well
ahead of its peers in the commercial banking sector.
Nearly two thirds of its five hundred and twenty thousand
customers had never had a bank account before,
suggesting a huge untapped market of people eager to
move into the formal banking system. “We want to get a
serious percentage of the unbanked market. Ideally we'd
like to aim at 20% of that market, and we're working on
putting infrastructure in place to do that,” says Teba Bank
Managing Director, Jenny Hoffman.
Company profile
Industry fora for banking, life assurance and short term
insurance submitted proposals that were consolidated into
a single set of charter proposals for the industry as a
Teba has developed a savings account targeted at lowincome, predominantly un-banked and under-banked
residents in rural South Africa. The 'Grow with Us' account
is open to anyone, regardless of employment status. The
111 Hilary Joffe, Business Day, July 15, 2003.
112 An SME is defined as having a minimum annual turnover of R500,000 (US$ 77,000) and a maximum of R20 million (US$ 3 million).
113 The Banking Council, 4th Quarter Update 2002.
Page 52
account is book based, and the interest is paid from the
smallest balance with no fees, apart from a small
withdrawal fee well below the over-the-counter fees of
other banks. The key features of the 'Grow with Us' Savings
Account include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Low minimum balance (R40,i.e. US$6);
Deposits are free and there are no monthly fees;
Assistance with filling in withdrawal and deposit forms;
Savings books are provided with the additional option of
an ATM card - the customer chooses;
No withdrawal limits subject to minimum balance;
Cash and cheque deposits and / or withdrawals;
The interest payable is comparable to other financial
institutions and calculated on daily balance and
capitalised monthly;
No formal employment required (customers are not
required to provide salary slips); and
Low transaction fees.
To further encourage saving, the bank also offers fixed
deposits and group based savings accounts, which take
into account the traditional savings structures such as
'stokvels'114.
Impact on sustainable development
Increasing financial literacy in rural communities and
especially, developing and encouraging a culture of savings
are key impacts attributable to Teba Bank's services. “The
Bank sees savings as important to strengthen not only the
person who saves, but ultimately the broader South African
economy” says Teba's Jenny Hoffman.
preferred and is designing a programme along these lines.
'Road shows' and competitions for staff are also held to
ensure that staff are primed to assist customers with basic
budgeting and savings advice. Key assistance is provided to
illiterate customers to enable them to complete forms.
“Our clients demonstrate a high level of loyalty to us and
new clients say they are attracted to us because we speak
their language - in our front office, our posters and
advertising,” says Jenny Hoffman. Even the main body of
Teba Bank's annual report is translated into four local
languages.
Teba Bank has been recognised for its innovation and solid
performance, and was announced one of twenty finalists in
the 2003 SA Non Listed Company Award. The total value
of the 'Grow with Us' account increased from R27 million
(just over US$4 million) at the end of the previous year, to
R63 million (US$9.7 million) at the end of the 2003
financial period. Teba Bank's overall growth focus is on the
'Grow with Us' savings account and they hope to achieve
over one hundred thousand accounts with a value of R89
million (US$13.7 million).
Company profile
The foundations of Teba Bank have been in place since the
1970s, when it began acting as the pay agent for the gold
and platinum sector by providing savings accounts for
mineworkers. Granted a bank licence in 2000, Teba now
focuses on providing banking services to more than four
hundred thousand low income customers, mostly drawn
from the mines. It offers savings accounts, fixed deposits,
microlending and housing loans secured by consumers'
pensions. www.tebabank.co.za
Key success factors and challenges
Case Study 10:
Teba Bank is in the process of developing a customer
education programme to encourage savings through
understanding how to budget, plan financially, avoid debt
and make use of basic banking products. It aims to
educate customers about basic financial services, and
stresses the need for customers to save before they use
credit facilities. Independent research has shown that Teba
Bank is favoured by its customers because it speaks the
customers' languages, it has products suited to the needs
of the poor, and its staff have a strong ability to
communicate well. Previously, radio has been used to
deliver the main body of the campaign, supported by direct
education provided by branch staff. However, the bank has
learnt from its customers that face-to-face education is far
Smartcards backed by biometrics
Malswitch, Malawi
Financial innovation
Malswitch, a Malawian initiative, is pioneering the
development of new banking services in Malawi using
smartcards115 backed by biometrics technology, which
allows card users to authorise their transactions by
scanning their fingerprints, as an alternative to (less
secure) verification by PIN or signature. Malawi is the
second country in Africa (after South Africa) to use such
technology, and Malswitch was recognised as Most
114 ‘Stokvels' are rotating savings and credit associations.
115 Regarded by many as the payment mechanism of the future, the smartcard can operate as either a debit card, a credit card, or both.
Page 53
Case Studies in Innovation Today
Innovative Implementation of the Year using this
technology, by Net1's southern African Advanced Cards
Award in 2002.
Impact on sustainable development
The potential for secure smartcards to spur economic and
social development in a still largely cash-based society, is
enormous, and the following benefits are already being
realised:
Access to banking sector - The majority of Malawi's
population is “unbanked”, as opening an account requires
identification documents and a high minimum deposit. The
smartcard offers them a secure and portable repository for
cash, with no identification required apart from fingerprints.
Cash can be withdrawn from ATMs, or purchases made
electronically in large stores. Moreover, for the employees
of a growing number of companies and government
departments, salaries can also be paid direct to the card.
transactions;
• Creation of a national identity card system, based on the
biometric smartcard, as a more secure and accessible
alternative to paper documents;
• Tracking of non-financial details, e.g. health providers
monitoring whether purchases of medicines are in line
with prescriptions given; and
• Issue of micro-credit grants on smartcards rather than in
cash, to reduce the risk of loss / theft.
Risks associated with the new technology are few, and
uptake of cards has been relatively quick in cities and
towns. However, significant infrastructure development is
needed before the benefits can be realised in rural areas.
In addition, there is a cultural barrier to overcome:
“signing” with the thumb is regarded as a mark of illiteracy
and most current users verify their transactions with a PIN,
rather than utilising the additional security of fingerprint
identification.
Company profile
Economic efficiency - More money stored on smartcards
translates into a larger pool of funds for banks to invest,
giving borrowers access to more capital. Cardholders also
benefit from ready access to their money and from time
saved banking wages each month. At the same time,
employers and retailers save time withdrawing cash for
salaries and banking their takings.
Reduction in fraud and crime - Smartcards backed by
biometric technology are beginning to reduce crime
through:
Malswitch was established in 1999 as an initiative of The
Reserve Bank of Malawi. Consultations with commercial
banks, companies, government and the public had
concluded that there was not a sufficient business case for
private companies to make the investment required
(c$10m), but the benefits were seen as sufficient to
warrant public funding. The Bank intends to privatise
Malswitch in the medium term.
www.rbm.malawi.net/Gov/Malswitch.htm
Case Study 11:
• Prevention of duplicate payments to “ghost employees”
on company payrolls;
• Fewer muggings of employees making their way home on
pay day;
• Smaller cash holdings both in shops and households to
attract thieves;
• Better identification of people withdrawing money from
banks; and
• Reduction in card fraud, as fingerprint identification
means only one person can use the card.
Key success factors and challenges
Malswitch has identified an extensive range of future
applications, including:
• Electronic payment of utility bills to further reduce cash
ACEP, Alliance du Crédit et de l'Epargne pour la
Production
Scaling up microfinance in Senegal
Financial innovation
In 1993, ACEP - originally founded as a donor-funded
credit union - moved to become a self-sustaining
organisation. It rapidly expanded, becoming one of the
most successful credit unions in the West African SME /
microfinance sector. ACEP benefits from the business
environment in Senegal, where large numbers of SMEs (or
micro enterprises) do not wish to become too much a part
of the formal (i.e. tax paying) economy. It also attracts
clients by offering less stringent guarantee requirements
and controls than its commercial counterparts.
Page 54
Approachability and sensitivity to its clients, including the
social contexts in which those clients operate their
businesses, make ACEP particularly suited to work with
informal businesses and those making the transition to the
formal economy. With smaller loans, ACEP can take on
higher risks as well as group credits (especially with
women), which are less labour intensive than individual
loan processing.
ACEP's strategy to attain sustainability has included
geographical expansion, the streamlining of their
operations, conservative budgeting and incentive-based
remuneration. Agents are required to have a minimum of a
95% loan repayment ratio before subsequent loans are
released. Perhaps most importantly, ACEP developed a
powerful electronic information system suitable to the
needs of their small-scale operations.
Impact on sustainable development
“Development of self-sustaining and widespread systems
for financial intermediation is one of the greatest
challenges for equitable [and sustainable] development
today116”. In Senegal, access to formal banking facilities is
limited to about 5% of the population, which reflects the
urgent need for a range of savings and credit facilities to be
made available to the poorest urban dwellers and virtually
all rural communities.
ACEP, though traditionally less focused on rural areas, often
reaches whole supply chains in the informal market and
contributes substantially to job creation and poverty
alleviation in the country. “ACEP uses its most dependable
clients as informal credit retailers to small and poor
borrowers, who would not otherwise qualify for ACEP's
programmes, and as proto-credit reference bureau capable
(within a village) of distinguishing good clients with poor
collateral from solid-looking clients of bad character117”.
ACEP is also part of a wider network of microfinance
institutions, the INAFI (International Network of Alternative
Financial Institutions). The common mission of INAFI
members is to contribute to the eradication of causes of
poverty, through granting efficient credit, savings and
training services to the most depressed human groups,
especially women, as part of a support process for
sustainable development. Network members intend to
encourage the most needy sectors to take control of their
own lives by improving their economic and social
conditions118.
116
117
118
119
Key success factors and challenges
ACEP's successful technology platform has caught the
attention of various microfinance institutions in subSaharan Africa and has been sold to organizations in
Madagascar and Cameroon in the form of technical
assistance. Other key success factors include the quality of
the portfolio (<300 clients per agent to maintain high
quality); strict budget controls; training of agents fresh out
of university who have not yet been formally inducted in
traditional banking techniques; group credits for more costefficient processing; several levels of internal controls and
centralized decision taking as well as continuous
improvement of the electronic systems. ACEP is flexible
and targets all Senegalese with a legal, revenue-generating
activity. Other success factors from lessons of experience
are: “know your borrower, do not supervise loans, take
loans to clients, provide appropriate credit, charge
commercial rates of interest, be tough on defaulters119”.
ACEP thrives on high repayment rates and use of the least
costly enforcement mechanisms. Peer pressure and social
stigmatisation are often effective, as lenders and
customers typically live in the same small community.
The one key challenge for ACEP today seems to be its lack
of access to stable funding as savings are not sufficient.
Availability of funding from Senegalese banks has so far
been limited because banks are reluctant to deal with MFIs
without a risk-mitigating mechanism (a guarantee facility
would allow ACEP to raise additional funding to meet the
growing credit demand of its clients and to develop
commercial relationships with local banks in view of its
medium-term growth strategy). Other funds - such as the
IFC-backed AFRICAP - will not invest in mutuals. Other
challenges include constrained interest rates that do not
cover full cost of providing the service. The most frequent
source of this constraint is a legally-imposed ceiling or
usury rate, which affects programs such as ACEP and most
credit union programs in West Africa. The effective annual
interest rate is 20%, though recent interpretation of a
1995 credit union legislation is imposing a ceiling,
currently 15%, which is the same as for banks and causing
it some financial difficulties. Finally, improving loan recovery
and increasing outreach to poorer entrepreneurs always
remains an important challenge. Looking forward, ACEP
sees its continuing success in the diversification of its
activities and products. One example of a new product
offered is a credit insurance releasing heirs from debt
burden. Currently, most credits are trade loans, which are
often related to agricultural activities prone to instability
Eric R. Nelson (1999) Financial Intermediation for the Poor Survey of the State of the Art, African Economic Policy Discussion Paper Number 10, funded by USAID.
Ibid.
http://www.thagaval.net/inafi/about.htm.
Eric R. Nelson. Ibid.
Page 55
Case Studies in Innovation Today
(volume of trade finance has been steadily increasing
between 1997 and 2001, up to 71%, whereas
manufacture keeps declining reaching 4% in 2001).
Company profile
ACEP is one of the leading microfinance institutions in
West Africa. It is a credit union with twenty six local service
centres serving more than forty thousand individual credit
clients. ACEP started operations in 1985 as a USAID
funded project and transformed into a self-sustained and
successful credit union in 1993. Today it is considered a
nation-wide enterprise with an important urban and peri
urban focus. ACEP's clientele is upper-end micro
entrepreneurs who are expanding their business and
generally lack access to formal financial institutions. Some
of their clients “crossover” enterprises, with some
connections to the formal financial sector. Between 1993
and 2001 credit volume grew from CFA2,109 million
(US$3.6 million) to CFA11,846 million (US$20.3 million)
(with frequent annual growth rates of around 20%). Its
mission statement is to “offer savings and credit services
to Senegalese entrepreneurs with the goal to support their
growth in the context of Senegal's economic and social
development120”. Its collateral and reporting requirements
make it one of the most rigorous of small credit
programmes. acep@telecom_plus.sn
K-Rep Statistics
Non-Performing Loans - <5%
High-risk loans - up to 30% interest
Low risk loans - up to 18% interest
Capital / Asset Ratio - 36%
Debt / Equity Ratio - 1.7
Deposits to Loan - 38%
Deposits - 4% - 8.5%
Average loan balance per borrower - US$373
8,230 Voluntary Savers
Average savings balance per saver - US$721
other grants. The transition from an NGO to a commercial
bank has been hailed as highly innovative and one of the
most successful microfinance schemes in Africa. As other
commercial banks have closed branches in rural areas,
and subsequently blamed government for not addressing
poverty, K-Rep has managed to tap into the rural market
through its branches.
Keeping within the tradition of the NGO style development
agency K-Rep prides itself on operating at the “grassroots”
with low-income people. K-Rep has managed to develop
systems which enable interaction with social and cultural
groups.
K-Rep Bank, Kenya
Providing New Finance for the Poor
“We find these social and cultural groups much more
trustworthy than some registered entities, which exist on
paper and not in reality,” says Kimanthi Mutua, K-Rep's
Managing Director.
Financial innovation
Impact on sustainable development
The high level of interest shown by the Kenyan government
and donors for microfinance provision has provided the
opportunity for innovation. The microfinance sector in
Kenya has traditionally been dominated by NGOs providing
loans directly to individuals or groups or to micro-finance
institutions121. It has been heavily donor driven and the lack
of ownership, lack of capacity and restrictive legislation
have had negative constraints on the sector.
K-Rep has enabled the servicing of a huge part of the
unbanked population in Kenya. With twenty five outlets
country wide, the bank has managed to reach some forty
thousand borrowers, 52% of which are women.
Case Study 12:
Established in 2000, K-Rep Bank is a savings and loans
bank122 for the poor. K-Rep was initially founded as an
NGO, but later realised that accessing grants was not
sustainable, and opted to secure a banking license. The
NGO subsequently became K-Rep Development Agency: it
remains an NGO, funded from K-Rep Bank's profits and
Recognising that HIV/AIDS poses a significant threat to the
sustainability of the bank, K-Rep has realised that
education and awareness raising are necessary to mitigate
the impact. Future innovation lies in providing credit
schemes to HIV/AIDS infected and affected people to
develop small businesses.
Key success factors and challenges
A potential risk for K-Rep Bank is the high interest rate gap
120 ACEP Annual Report 2001.
121 Examples include: Jitegemee Trust which provides loans to seven micro-finance institutions. Faulu Kenya provides emergency financial relief, business capital, educational loan, and
finances groups of individuals.
122 In addition to K-Rep, there are other commercial entities providing finance - The Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB, Post Bank. The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has received substantial
donor support from UK DfID and USAID.
Page 56
between deposits and loans. The sustainability of the bank
rests on its own customers growing their asset base and
taking on more loans. With high interest rates on loans,
however, the ability to save at the same time makes it
virtually impossible to grow an asset base. Other than
mandatory savings it is an ongoing challenge for K-Rep to
provide attractive savings products.
Although the bank has not explicitly linked social and
environmental risk to their credit, it does recognize the
opportunities. Two examples below provide illustration:
Example 1: The bank started to investigate the value
addition of waste material in the low income, high-density
residential areas and has provided some opportunities for
woodworkers.
Example 2: With clients selling food and managing beauty
salons, the bank has provided training in wastewater
management, composting, and hygiene. Overall customer
satisfaction has improved and the businesses improve their
turnover.
A further area of innovation being explored by K-Rep Bank
is linking Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME)
debt financing to sustainable development issues. The
opportunity is that in low-income areas, services such as
water, education (under licence from the government)
health, and waste management could be undertaken by
SMMEs where the state is unable to provide such services.
It is suggested that the condition of the loan be linked to
the standard of services and use of local suppliers.
Company profile
K-Rep Shareholders include the African Development
Bank, the IFC, Netherlands Development Financing
Company, Shore Bank, and Triodos Bank, as well as K-Rep
Bank Limited and the K-Rep Group staff association.
www.k-repbank.com
Case Study 13:
Unity Incorporated and Old Mutual Asset Managers
(SA) Community Growth Fund
Socially Responsible Investment Vehicle in South Africa
Financial innovation
In 1992, Unity Incorporation and Nedcor (then Syfrets
Page 57
Managed Assets) established the Community Growth
Management Company (CGMC). In the same year, CGMC
launched the first socially responsible investment vehicle in
South Africa - the Community Growth Fund (CGF). The
philosophy of the Fund is to achieve sustainable long-term
growth by investing in socially responsible companies.
The Portfolio Manager selects a share or a bond, based
upon fundamental financial criteria. The request is then
made by Unity to an independent research house (Labour
Research Services) employed specifically to investigate the
company in question against a set of social responsibility
criteria.
The original criteria set in 1992 covered seventeen key
points. Today, these criteria have been streamlined to
eight, all of which hold equal weightings. Any company that
scores below 50% on the scorecard is rejected. Companies
that earn more than 60% are approved, while those that
earn above 70% are highlighted for special praise. The
current criteria are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Job creation through innovation and growth;
Equity through affirmative action in the workplace;
Training and skills development;
Economic and social empowerment;
Good conditions of employment;
High health and safety standards;
Sound environmental practices; and
Open and effective corporate governance.
Impact on sustainable development
CGF was the first fund to enable retirement funds and
ordinary savers to invest solely in companies that meet the
basic standards of social responsibility. The Fund has been
acclaimed both locally and abroad for its role in the
transformation of industrial relations in South Africa. By
implementing a stringent set of social responsibility criteria,
which are substantially biased towards genuine and
meaningful employer / employee relations, South African
companies are encouraged to be far more transparent in
order to attract investment by the funds.
In 1992, only twenty companies qualified for inclusion in
the CGF universe. Today, the universe stands at ninety five
companies. CGF continues to reject companies that fail to
score 60% of the criteria if the company in question does
not improve after being engaged by the CGF.
Case Studies in Innovation Today
Key success factors and challenges
Categorised as a general equity unit trust, the CGF now
boasts a ten-year track record of above-average returns,
while at the same time playing a crucial role in achieving
fundamental change in the way South African companies
pursue relationships with their workforce.
The constraints of the fund are that it has a limited
purchase universe due to the social responsibility criteria
applied, though the universe has expanded over time, as
mentioned above, from only twenty companies in 1992 to
ninety five companies in 2004. Further constraints are the
reluctance of companies to be subjected to the screening
process and the lack of transparency still surrounding many
companies.
It is expected that the new SRI (Socially Responsible
Investment) Index on the JSE (see Case Study 3), will help
to bring SRI onto the radar screen of investors, particularly
pension funds, persuading companies to embrace this
theme of investing.
Company profile
Unity Incorporation (Unity) is a non-profit company, which
was formed in 1992 to actively participate in the South
African economy by various transparent means. Unity is
representative of six trade unions affiliated to COSATU and
NACTU:
• National Union of Mineworkers (NUM);
• Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied
Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU);
• South African Transport and Allied Workers Union
(SATAWU);
• Construction and Allied Workers Union (CAWU);
• Metal and Electrical Workers' Union of South Africa
(MEWUSA); and
• South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers'
Union (SACCAWU).
Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) (SA), which in 2003
bought Nedcor's 50% shareholding in CGMC, has been
operating as a fully contained and independent global
asset management company since June 1997. OMAM is a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Old Mutual Group. The
South African OMAM operation is based in Cape Town and
has some R247 billion (US$38 billion) in assets under
management as of December 31st, 2002, making it South
Africa's largest institutional asset manager. OMAM (SA)
provides both domestic and international investment
management services to institutional and retail investors in
Southern Africa.
Case Study 14:
CETZAM & Opportunity International
Lightening the Load: micro-insurance in Zambia
Financial innovation
Opportunity International (OI), a British charity specialising
in microfinance, is pioneering new work in the area of
micro-insurance. In Africa the immediate goal, is to
develop products that assist clients affected by the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. These products can assist directly, by
providing coverage for the cost of funerals, which can
severely affect the viability of a family-run business; or
indirectly, by ensuring that those clients taking group loans
do not exclude HIV positive participants, through the
provision of credit life insurance. Programmes are also in
place providing insurance for clients' personal belongings,
for losses arising from theft, fire and natural disaster.
Micro-insurance clients are defined as poor microentrepreneurs, who are unable to be accessed or serviced
economically by commercial insurance companies.
The death of a family member can be a huge financial
blow, as well as an emotional loss. Firstly, the funeral must
be paid for and secondly, the family must attempt to
replace the lost income earned by the deceased. The scale
of the problem was demonstrated by a survey in August
2003 carried out by OI's partner in Zambia, CETZAM (The
Christian Enterprise Trust of Zambia), in which 41% of the
clients questioned, had suffered a death in the family in
the past year.
Ntula (meaning 'lightening the load') is a funeral benefit
insurance product administered by CETZAM in Zambia. The
scheme is operated with CETZAM acting as an agent on
behalf of a local insurance company. Weekly premiums
cost just US$0.30, and cover the client plus six named
family dependants for death arising from any cause,
including HIV/AIDS. Claims are processed within ten days,
with fixed payments of US$125 for the death of an adult
and US$63 for a child. The payout exceeds the average
cost of a funeral in Zambia, and any excess is intended for
the purchase of stock or capital items to assist the family
during the period following the bereavement.
Page 58
Impact on sustainable development
Credit alone is insufficient to lift poor people out of poverty.
Although credit enables clients to generate income, it still
leaves them exposed to risks such as the loss of income
when there is a death in the family, illness or natural
disasters. These events often force clients to sell key items
to cover costs, thereby reducing the viability of their
enterprise and reducing their standard of living.
Ntula is a rare example of insurance cover available
anywhere that provides cover for death following AIDS. Its
success also contributes to CETZAM's own bottom line as
CETZAM receives a small commission for each client on
the scheme. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that
the scheme has helped reduce the potential for client
default, by making funds available in times of distress.
Clients tend to experience increased satisfaction with the
institution, which reduces client drop out rate and enables
the partner to increase financial sustainability.
The programme offered by CETZAM in Zambia indicates
that micro-insurance can provide a major contribution to
sustainable development. There is little doubt that microinsurance can provide poor people with protection against
a range of risks that could be disastrous for families and
communities.
Key success factors and challenges
“The Ntula that I got after my father passed away helped
me to pay the debts that befell me after the bereavement.
I also managed to pay some old debts. The remaining
amount went to finish constructing a house and also buy
cement,” says one of CETZAM's clients, Mary Muwowo,
who is a member of the Shipiksha Trust Bank in Kamatipa
Compound - Kitwe, Zambia.
The key to the Ntula product is that it has been developed
in response to an identified client need. Clients made it
clear to CETZAM that they needed help with the rising cost
and frequency of the funerals and CETZAM developed a
product in consultation with the clients. However, CETZAM
also employed the services of trained insurance
professionals from within the OI network to balance clients,
needs with the requirement to develop products that were
financially sustainable for the institution, meet regulatory
requirements and subscribed to industry best practice.
A continued ability to listen to clients and respond by
Page 59
altering product features to meet changing needs has also
meant that the product has remained popular. A survey of
one thousand clients in August 2003 demonstrated that
81% of CETZAM's clients were positive about the Ntula
product. The product is intentionally simple and thus,
clients and staff alike are able to understand it.
Ntula is the first formal funeral product aimed at the lowincome market. In Zambia, funeral insurance is available
for higher income households but the premiums associated
with these high value policies are out of reach for OI's
clients. In addition, informal burial societies do exist in
local communities, but these are unregulated and far less
common than in, say, South Africa.
The challenges for CETZAM have been significant and
diverse. At one end, CETZAM has struggled to ensure that
its staff and clients have received sufficient training in the
basics of insurance, in order to appreciate the Ntula
product. At the other end the product nearly failed in
Livingstone because potential clients associated Ntula,
which covered six people for death, with a concurrent
increase in incidents of black magic and refused to accept
it. Only after extensive publicity and marketing efforts
(including street actors) was the product finally accepted by
the population.
As the Ntula product covers death from any cause (i.e.
including AIDS) it has not suffered from any stigma issues.
CETZAM have recognised that an insurance product that
does not cover AIDS in Zambia will not meet clients needs
- hence they have worked to obtain a product that does
offer coverage.
Company profile
CETZAM (The Christian Enterprise Trust of Zambia) was set
up in 1995 as an association of local business people
committed to empower potential or existing business
people in small and medium sized businesses through the
provision of small capital loans for business start up or
expansion, training in business skills and sound business
counsel in the planning and operation of a business.
CETZAM is now a major financial institution in Zambia and
has branches stretching from the Copperbelt in the North
to Livingstone in the South. It is the local partner of
Opportunity International.
Opportunity International UK (OI UK) is a major British
charity specialising solely in microfinance for the
Case Studies in Innovation Today
developing world. Launched in 1992, OI UK forms part of
an international network, whose mission is to provide
opportunities for people living in poverty to transform their
lives by giving them access to financial services. OI UK has
partner organisations in Malawi (Opportunity International
Bank of Malawi); Ghana (Opportunity International - Sinapi
Aba Savings and Loan Company); Zambia (CETZAM);
Zimbabwe (Zambuko Trust); Uganda (UGAFODE - is
preparing to move into the formal sector). Apart from
Zambia, OI UK has experience with existing microinsurance products in the Philippines, India, Mexico and
Malawi with work currently underway on potential products
in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
www.opportunity.org/international
payer and payee receive confirmation of the transaction
with a unique reference number and full details of all
transactions are available online. The product is simple to
use and can be used by anyone who knows how to send
an SMS on their phone. A registered Celpay user has to
deposit money into a Celpay account, and once this is
done, spending via cellphone can commence. The
minimum deposit is an affordable K40,000 (US$8.50);
thereafter, the amount deposited depends on the
subscriber's usage. Balances of cash can be checked by
cellphone - including what is available, as well new
balances following a pending transaction. Subscribers can
also buy more cellphone airtime using Celpay.
Cellphone Banking
Your phone is your new wallet - Celpay Zambia
There is a growing enthusiasm for the service, and
Multichoice Zambia's Managing Director was quoted as
saying that in Africa where people don't always have a
home address, and the postal service is sluggish,
123
payments over the phone are a quantum leap forward .
Financial innovation
Key success factors and challenges
Cellphone operators across the world are rolling out
services to allow consumers to electronically purchase
physical goods using their handsets. Over one year ago,
Celpay (a subsidiary of the Amsterdam based Celtel,
formerly known as MSI Cellular Investments) rolled out a
system in Zambia, allowing users to exchange money using
their cellphones. To use the system, one of the two parties
involved in the transaction sends the details via text
message to Celpay. Celpay then relays a text message to
the payer's cellphone asking him to enter a personal
identification number to confirm the transaction. Once that
is done, Celpay transfers the money between the
participants' bank accounts. The system already has over
two thousand users in Zambia, each making several
transactions per month. The recipient typically pays Celpay
between 1% and 2% of the value of the transaction in
commission. Celpay Holdings of the Netherlands was
Runner-up (in the Finance Sector), in the 2003 Wall Street
Journal European Innovation Awards.
Cellphone operators have been developing and testing
mobile commerce since the late 1990s, but are now
gearing up for widespread use. One reason is that
handsets with screens good enough to display pictures of
products are now widely available. More importantly,
operators have installed software systems making it
possible for consumers to purchase goods with just a few
taps of a keypad, rather than keying in sixteen digit credit
card numbers, expiry dates and so on. Having registered
for Celpay, the consumer receives a special secure SIM
card that installs a new menu onto the cellphone.
Case Study 15:
Impact on sustainable development
The product allows a subscriber to use their cellphone to
pay bills, an important innovation in a country where few
people have credit or debit cards, and carrying cash can be
dangerous.
PIN verification ensures the system is secure, and both
Celpay runs independently from cellular operators, as well
as providing technology services and marketing assistance
to banks wishing to use Celpay as a solution for consumer
and business clients.
Challenges are still posed by the cellphone coverage or
remaining gaps in the Zambian, and indeed, the African
market. The continent has a population of about eighty
million people, with just about 23.5 million cellphone
users, or about one phone for every thirty four people. So
increasing cellphone coverage and usage is crucial to
increasing access to payment mechanisms such as Celpay.
Company profile
Celtel is a mobile telephone group based in the
123 Zambezi Times Online, December 2003.
Page 60
Netherlands but operating in a dozen African countries.
Formerly called MSI Cellular Investments, the group has
changed its name to reinforce its Celtel operating brand.
The group is seeking to rival the international expansion of
the two leading South African cellphone operators MTN
and Vodacom, and already claims the leading market
positions in ten of the twelve African countries in which it
operates. Celpay in Zambia is being offered with the
participation of the African Banking Corporation (ABC) for
retail customers, and Citibank for corporate customers.
Case Study 16:
Oil Services Local Contractor Credit Scheme
Nigerian facility to encourage the development of
indigenous SMEs delivering services to Shell
Financial innovation
The Oil Services Local Contractor Credit Scheme is a
revolving U$30 million facility established by Diamond
Bank, in conjunction with the IFC and Delta Development
Limited, a subsidiary of Shell International. The facility aims
to encourage the development of indigenous small and
medium contractors providing services to Shell Nigeria.
Loans shall range from US$50,000 to US$1.5 million, with
a duration of three to five years. While the loans are
provided by Diamond Bank, IFC and Delta Development
jointly offer a parallel facility, which is a capacity building
and technical assistance programme to support
contractors in developing and professionalising their
businesses.
Successful applicants to the scheme must meet Diamond
Bank's lending criteria, and may not engage in activities on
IFC's Exclusion List or in activities that would be classified
as IFC Category A Projects. Excluded activities include for
example: use of harmful or exploitative forms of labour;
trade in products that contravene local or international
regulations or conventions; production and trade in hard
spirits, tobacco, radioactive materials, unbonded asbestos
and products containing PCBs; gambling; commercial
logging or drift netting124. IFC Category A transactions are
those likely to have significant adverse environmental
impacts and may include for example: large dams or
reservoirs, large scale forestry projects, large scale
industrial plants and large ferrous and non-ferrous metal
operations125.
124 For the full exclusion list see www.ifc.org/enviro.
125 For a full list see www.ifc.org/enviro.
Page 61
Impact on sustainable development
The Credit Scheme enables qualified contractors to access
competitively priced medium term US$ loans for capital
investments and working capital requirements. In addition,
it facilitates management and development training
through the parallel capacity building and skills
development programme. Thus the long term sustainability
and viability of these indigenous contractors and
businesses is dramatically improved. Developing a robust
local SME sector that has access to finance is critical for
growth and development in Nigeria and encourages the
formalisation of local companies while also promoting
national employment.
By insisting that companies not engage in IFC Excluded
Activities or Category A transactions, an understanding and
awareness of sustainability business practice as well as
social and environmental risk management is promoted.
Thus local contractors can compete more effectively with
foreign contractors therefore building locally based industry.
A critical aspect to the development of SMEs in Nigeria is
understanding the value added component to a business
that comes through technical support from competent
technical providers or international expertise, both of which
are favoured through the scheme.
Key success factors and challenges
The scheme has aroused concern among some banks that
their traditional markets are being developed and shaped
by players outside the financial sector, in this case Shell
and the oil industry. However, this development offers an
opportunity for the Nigerian financial sector to learn from
this example and possibly to develop similar schemes in
different sectors. One of the strengths of the scheme is
that by focusing on one sector and in this case to
companies supplying services to one company it allows for
expertise in risk management to be focused on that area.
One of the challenges in Nigeria is for SMEs to realize the
value added of securing appropriate technical support and
capacity building to achieve the necessary transition to
international competitiveness and to be able to cost this in
as part of business development costs.
The scheme has also been working with stakeholders to
ensure that the enabling and learning environment needed
to support such an initiative is not restricted to the oil
Case Studies in Innovation Today
sector and in this case to the supply chain of one
company, but that the lessons learnt are transferable.
Ensuring that this knowledge and skills transfer process is
given wider applicability is critical to the long-term success
of such a scheme.
It will also be interesting to note whether involvement in
such a scheme has a significant effect on Diamond Bank
in becoming a local leader in sustainability banking issues.
Company profile
Diamond Bank Limited formally opened for business on
March 21, 1991. The Bank currently has a branch network
of thirty eight, total assets of over N50 billion and
shareholders' funds of N5.2 billion, which position it among
the strongest banks in Nigeria today.
www.diamondbank.co.za
Case Study 17:
Measuring the effectiveness of sustainability
management
Corporate Citizenship Management Rating, Trialogue and
AICC, South Africa
Innovation
In 2002, Trialogue, a South African based consulting and
publications company, and the not-for-profit African
Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) jointly developed
the Corporate Citizenship Management Rating (CCMR) to
measure the state of corporate citizenship management
within South African companies, including a number of
those in the financial sector. The model is currently being
adapted for broader applicability in Africa. The focus of the
CCMR process falls on management of corporate
citizenship, as opposed to 'output based' measures of
social or environmental impact. The model has four
dimensions which are applied across fifteen elements of
corporate citizenship. The dimensions consider:
• Practices - current corporate citizenship activities within
the company;
• Formalisation - the extent to which those practices have
been formalised;
• Embedment - the way those practices are being
embedded across the organisation; and
• Integration - how all corporate citizenship elements are
integrated under one banner.
To facilitate comparison between the underlying corporate
citizenship elements, a quantitative scoring system is used.
Indicators have been compiled taking into consideration
local and international codes, guidelines and standards.
The composite rating for each corporate citizenship
element and dimension enables a plot of corporate
citizenship 'management performance' for the company.
This plot, or 'footprint', can be used in a number of ways:
• Areas of under performance can be easily identified and
an action plan developed;
• The performance of the company can be tracked over
time; and
• The overall rating of the company can be used to
demonstrate responsible corporate citizenship behaviour
and planning, both internally and externally.
Impact on sustainable development
Average scores across a number of the elements, which
make up the model, are shown in the accompanying chart
highlighting the relative differences in the way citizenship is
being managed within companies. Traditional elements
such as employee relations and employment equity (a key
issue in South Africa) tend to be more comprehensively
managed than less familiar elements such as human rights
and the social impact of operations.
The distinct benefit of the CCMR is the clarity that it gives
companies on how to optimise sustainability performance.
It also strongly builds the business case ensuring
sustainability is built into the core business practice rather
than being seen as an add on. It has proved particularly
beneficial for finance sector institutions, whose social and
environmental footprint is not always apparent, as it
highlights their core sustainability competencies allowing
them to better manage risk, while also identifying
opportunities for product and market development in line
with company and stakeholder interests.
Increased use of the CCMR will contribute to the
development of an enabling environment through its
promotion of company practices that are socially
responsible and have a positive poverty impact. AICC and
Trialogue are optimistic that the CCMR will contribute
materially to the mainstreaming of company sustainability
development practices. This will facilitate the development
of these companies, and improve their attractiveness to
investors, thus further incentivising such practice.
Page 62
Corporate citizenship management rating scores
averaged across a sample of South African
companies126
Employment equity Corporate governance Leadership in corporate governance Skills development Supply chain compliance Human rights Marketplace Social impact -
0%
20%
40%
60%
Average score
80%
100%
Key success factors and challenges
Organisational profile
• One of the key outputs of the CCMR was the
development of a well received two hundred and thirty
page report on corporate citizenship in South Africa,
released in March 2004 by Trialogue in association with
AICC, called The Good Corporate Citizen. The report uses
the CCMR framework to structure the content and
develop the business case. It is hoped that similar
reports will be developed in other African countries.
• At the moment the CCMR has focused on South African
companies; to extend its utility it needs to be adapted to
suit companies operating in different countries in Africa.
• The rating has been used successfully as the basis for an
audit of companies providing services to donor
organisations. A further strength of the rating is the
number of financial companies that have been involved
and the potential to begin to benchmark within the
sector.
• A key aspect of the rating is to allow companies to
understand the value of managing corporate citizenship
effectively and in a holistic manner, rather than simply
looking at it as a series of separate outputs.
• It is expected that the rating could also be developed
into a more formal mechanism that will influence
investor analysis relative to a company's performance.
• The CCMR needs to be developed into an online self help tool to allow for broader participation.
• At the moment about ten companies have undertaken
the CCMR but a wider number of companies need to be
involved to provide accurate benchmarking particularly
across a given sector.
Trialogue is a South African based consulting and
publications company. Annual industry handbooks include:
The e-Business Handbook, The CSI Handbook, and the
inaugural The Good Corporate Citizen. The company also
generates content and publish customised reports for a
number of corporate clients. www.trialogue.co.za
AICC is a leading not-for-profit organisation whose mission
is to promote responsible growth and development in
Africa. The institute has four core function areas: The
Centre for Sustainability Investing, ReportCom, The African
Corporate Citizenship Forum and Responsible
Competitiveness and Innovation. www.aiccafrica.org
126 Trialogue, in association with AICC (2004) The Good Corporate Citizen.
Page 63
Case Study 18:
Commercially Targeting the Poor for Microfinance
Equity Building Society, Kenya
Equity Statistics
Non-performing Loans - 7.7% (industry average 28%)
Capital / Asset Ratio - 0.12 (12%)
Deposits to Loan - 2.09 (209%)
Average loan balance per borrower - US$313
Voluntary Savers - 252,000
Average savings balance per saver - US$175
Case Studies in Innovation Today
Financial innovation
Equity Building Society has a unique portfolio of savings
and loans directed at the poor. With 252,000 depositors
and 67,000 borrowers Equity is the largest single
microfinance institution in Kenya127. Opening an account
requires a minimum deposit of only US$5 and there are no
ledger or maintenance fees. Equity offers competitive
interest rates on savings accounts and affordable
borrowing rates for loans as low as US$6. Loan products
include those covering farm inputs and crop advances for
agricultural workers, small and micro business products;
and, medical and education loans. The latter are
subsidised products run on a small margin as part of
Equity's commitment to social responsibility. Such loans
can be used to alleviate the cost of medical bills
associated with HIV/AIDS, or help pay for school fees.
Savings account products include the 'Jijenge (“build
yourself”) Saving Account' with preferential interest rates
for fixed deposits, a 'Business Savings Account' and the
'Super Junior Investment Scheme'.
The Building Society incorporates environmental concerns
into its core investment principles, deomonstrated by one
of its products, the 'Sunpower Loan' which supports
environmental improvements such as installing solar power.
“It doesn't make sense to pollute the environment when
you are trying to build and develop the country,” says
James Mwangi, Equity's Finance Director.
Impact on sustainable development
Equity has developed a network of thirty two mobile village
banking units to offer services to unbanked rural areas. The
mobile units serve each area once or twice a week,
providing their customers in the remote areas with the
financial services they would receive from a branch, such
as bank cheques, remittance processing, loan applications
and many more. The customers pay the same rates for
their transactions, and are charged a modest fee for the
mobile access, which is far less than a one-way bus fare to
the nearest branch.
Each mobile bank consists of an all terrain four wheel drive
vehicle, manned by two or three bank employees, as well
as hired security forces. The team meet the customers at
the designated market places on the bank days. Once
there, they remove the vault, their paperwork, and their
laptops and serve the customers from the makeshift offices
that are rented out at the market places. The mobile banks
use solar power to run the computerised systems, printers
and scanners used to check ID documents for account
holders, or to process new accounts. The mobile banks are
in constant communication with the branches via GPS and
VHF radio.
The vehicles visit areas where mainstream banks have
discontinued the use of mobile banks, or where internet
service banking has failed due to poor infrastructure, or
where rural branches have shut down, as well as new
remote rural areas which have never had access to banking
services.
Equity has also recognised that partnering with
development organisations may expand the products and
services offered to this sector of the market. It has joined
forces with a number of international organisations in order
to access donor investment for capacity building and
customer use, as well as to build an international
reputation and confidence in Equity. Organisations include
the UK Department for International Development (DfID),
the United Nations Development Programme, European
127 Correct as of 31st December 2003.
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Union, the Swiss Foundation for Development and the IFC
via funds such as the Financial Deepening Challenge Fund,
MicroSaveAfrica, the Microfinance Enterprise Support
Programme, Swisscontact and the Global Environment
Facility. Projects include investment in the mobile banking
network, building IT capacity within Equity, training for staff
and one thousand Equity clients and developing the use of
solar power. Equity's interest in micro-finance, support for
the rural poor, entrepreneurs and the environment fits with
many development agencies' goals even though Equity is
itself not an NGO.
Key success factors and challenges
The success of Equity Building Society over the last twenty
years has been due to a combination of strong market
focus, customer service and loyalty, together with internal
leadership and staff training128. The vision of Equity is to be
'the leading and preferred microfinance services provider'.
Equity actively targets economically active and salaried
individuals on low and middle incomes and in rural areas consumers that are often ignored by mainstream banks.
The company has achieved a growth rate of between 5070% per year over the last eight years despite Kenya's
difficult economic climate.
Competition in Kenya for microfinance products from the
Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOs) and
other banks is also strong, encouraging Equity to regularly
review the products that the microfinance market needs.
Its mobile banking programme, 'taking banking services to
the people' is one example of a creative and sustainable
response to the market's needs.
Company Profile
Equity is owned by two thousand four hundred and sixty
nine Kenyan shareholders (84%) and by AfriCap (16%) (a
consortium of investors including the International Finance
Corporation and the European Investment Bank). Equity
has a Board of nine Directors, three hundred and fifty eight
staff, eighteen branches and thirty two mobile banking
units. www.ebsafrica.com
Case Study 19:
Financial innovation
The Ghana Stock Exchange, which was established in
1990, was initially viewed as a market for a few privileged
investors, and not a market relevant to the average
Ghanaian. Epack was introduced by Databank in 1996, to
facilitate the average person's accessibility to, and interest
in, the Ghana Stock Exchange, and to encourage a savings
and investment culture. Epack was the first mutual equity
fund in Ghana. Prior to the introduction of Epack, Ghana
had only one recognized collective scheme known as the
HFC Unit Trust, which was linked to mortgages for the
middle class.
Epack began with five shareholders with a total contribution
of ¢250,000 (US$25). Seven years later, Epack had over
eight thousand shareholders each paying in an average
minimum monthly contribution of ¢50,000 (US$5). The
fund is now valued at over ¢89 billion (US$9 million) with
returns of 70% and 137% in 2002 and 2003 respectively
(and a cumulative return of 2811% since 1996).
Impact on sustainable development
Epack's shareholders range from business executives to
teachers, domestic workers to drivers, and market women
to newly employed young adults. Prior to the establishment
of Epack, most of these people would not have been in a
position to participate in the opportunities offered by the
Ghana Stock Exchange.
Epack offers the following advantages:
• Being an equity fund, investors enjoy the possibility of
the high returns in the long term;
• The minimum monthly contributions of ¢50,000 (US$5)
or a minimum lump sum start-up of ¢500,000 (US$50)
is affordable to a large part of the Ghanaian population;
• Investors can buy more shares at any given time since it
is an open-ended fund;
• Ease of exit when money is needed urgently i.e.
maximum of three working days;
• Diversified risk, as the fund has a mixed portfolio of
assets; and,
• Access to a qualified fund manager who monitors the
performance of the fund on a daily basis.
Equity investments in Ghana through Epack
Databank, Ghana
128 For further information see Coetzee, G. et al. 'Understanding the Re-birth of Equity Building Society in Kenya', MicroSave-Africa, August 2002.
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Case Studies in Innovation Today
Key success factors and challenges
The performance of Epack over the past seven years has
revealed a latent desire for Ghanaians at all levels to invest
for the future. The basic principles of saving 'little by little',
security of the principal amount, easy accessibility to
invested capital, and respect for local customs are
fundamental aspects of the growing savings and
investment culture in the country.
Once investors understand the implications of nonguaranteed return; and once the concept of 'shareholding'
with the underlying risks are well articulated, the market
becomes a mass market. The challenge at Databank is
now to establish a robust distribution network to reach the
uninvested / unbanked Ghanaian.
Due to the success of the Epack Mutual Fund, which is
really for medium to long-term investments, Databank has
developed a Money Market Fund. The Money Market Fund
is intended to reach the unbanked Ghanaians who have
been disenfranchised by the high minimum balance
imposed by the banks. The Money Market Fund will be
linked to a cheque book and, in addition, is expected to
pay much higher interest than the banks are paying for
their savings and checking accounts.
Company profile
Databank Financial Services Group was established in April
1990, and currently has fifty one employees. Its core
business is in the provision of Stock Brokerage Services,
Corporate Finance, Fund / Asset Management and Equity
Research Services.
Headquartered in Accra, Databank has successfully
expanded its presence on the Ghanaian financial market
and continues to provide leadership with groundbreaking
financial solutions. Currently, the focus of the firm, is to
extend its excellent track record into the West African subregion and thereby promote the emergence of Ghana as a
centre for financial excellence in West Africa. Databank is
now committed to expanding the concept of savings
through investment instruments such as Mutual Funds in
the sub-region.
Page 66
6.
Practitioners' Ideas for Innovation Tomorrow
Our discussions with over fifty financial institutions raised a
number of ideas about how to improve the role of the
financial sector as a driver for sustainable development on
the continent. This section briefly identifies a selection of
these ideas for future innovation. The explicit focus is on
how African financial market mechanisms could be used to
generate sustainable development benefits. While financial
institutions do, quite rightly, seek profitable opportunities,
they must operate within broader regulatory frameworks, as
well as within generally accepted sets of business ethics
and corporate governance.
6.1
Pricing assets and exercising ownership
Idea 1:
Investigate the feasibility of an African Climate Exchange to
administer the continent's first multi-national and multisector marketplace for reducing and trading greenhouse
gas emissions.
Why?
Rapid increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases is
introducing the risk of fundamental and costly changes in
the earth's climate system and significant impact on Africa.
The risks include more severe drought / precipitation
cycles; longer and more extreme heat waves; damage to
vegetation and agricultural systems; and threats to
coastlines and property due to higher sea levels and storm
surges. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
and, more recently, the Kyoto Protocol arose from
increasing international concern about the implications of
climate change; and a recognition that no one country can
solve this global environmental problem alone. The
ultimate objective is to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse
gas concentrations in the atmosphere, at a level that will
prevent dangerous human-induced interference with the
climate system. Individuals and companies in Africa should
be thinking strategically about the effect of carbon
constraints on their businesses, so that they can optimise
opportunities and minimise potential exposures. Farmers,
for instance should be aware that carbon sinks, which
meet Kyoto Protocol requirements, could become a
valuable environmental and financial resource in the future,
and should plan accordingly. A continent-wide exchange
could create a platform for determining the most effective
way to buy and sell reduction credits and practically reduce
emissions. It would also allow for the development of
alternative industries and investment vehicles related to
the reduction in greenhouse gas emission on the
continent.
Idea 2:
Stock analysts should compute the value of pollution and
the levels of emissions by African companies to see what
this is worth in terms of carbon credits traded to developed
countries, and to assess lender liability.
Why?
Companies that are 'carbon intensive' should have this
impact revealed in their share prices or as a risk in terms of
lending criteria. This would assist in the development of
national and international trading schemes, as well as
assisting with broadening risk management processes to
take greater account of environmental and social issues.
Idea 3:
Investors should collaborate nationally and internationally
to engage on specific sustainability issues relevant to the
African context.
Why?
There is limited comparative advantage in a bank doing this
alone, but there are several examples where the successful
collaboration of a number of banks and investors has
resulted in a set of business risk related guidelines (e.g.
lending criteria or SRI engagement principles) that have
influenced company behaviour and effectively mitigated
risk, whether actual or perceived. The Financial Sector129
Charter recently launched in South Africa is one such
example, while the Equator Principles130 offer an
international model.
Idea 4:
Increase trustee education around Socially Responsible
Investments (SRIs) and the merits of investing in such
assets.
Why?
The more informed trustees of institutional funds are, the
better decisions they will be able to make with regard to
investments. The majority of South African trustees are still
under the misconception that economic returns must be
compromised when investing in SRIs. The long-term track
record of successful SRIs locally and internationally131 must
be highlighted to these trustees, as well as the added
value of social impact returns. This would make a
significant difference to the attitude of the trustees to
these type of investments.
129 See section 5, case study 8.
130 A number of leading international banks have adopted the Equator Principles, a new comprehensive set of mandatory environmental and social guidelines for the financing of projects over
US$50 million. These principles are based on the policies and guidelines of the IFC. See section 1.
131 Lipper Analytical Services has consistently rated SRI funds higher than non-screened funds. In 2000, 88% of all SRI funds over US$100 million earned top marks from Lipper, compared
with only 32.5% for all funds. The Domini Social Index (DSI 400), an index of 400 primarily large-capital US corporations selected based on a wide range of social and environmental
criteria, has consistently outperformed its peer, the S&P 500, sometimes by as much as 180 basis points. (Enterprising Solutions Global Consulting, 2003).
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Practitioners’ Ideas for Innovation Tomorrow
Idea 5:
Multi-managers should consider constructing portfolios
with a selection of Socially Responsible Investment Funds
to present to Institutional Investors.
cope with the increasing number of pensioners. UNEP FI is
looking to establish a working group on SRI in emerging
markets and this could feed into a high level international
committee set up to review this.
Why?
The multi- manager approach combines a range of
specialist portfolios managed by leading fund managers. In
such a Socially Responsible Investment Portfolio, a
combination of SRI funds would offer the Institutional
Investor strong economic returns as well as social impact
in a diversified manner. The sustainability in returns will be
due to the SRI funds and the social impact will offer added
value to the investor in various sectors. It is important to
note that SRI funds do not compromise on economic
returns, but have in retrospect in many instances
outperformed their counterparts internationally as well as
on the African continent.
Idea 7:
Mainstream international financial market skills could
contribute to developing innovative sustainability financing
products and services suitable for African markets.
Idea 6:
International value-based investors or specialist SRI funds
with a fiduciary duty could significantly increase their
investment in Africa by using innovative risk management
techniques.
Why?
There is little investment in listed equities in African
economies by developed country investors. Many valuebased investors or SRI funds have shifted the focus of SRI
in developed country capital markets towards being an
accepted mainstream issue and could take a similar
leadership role in shifting investment flows to include
emerging capital markets in Africa. The developed
countries' SRI funds would find welcome diversification in
the South African SRI market, as the focus is very different
to that of the international SRI mandates, assuming of
course that the risk adjusted returns are acceptable. In
South Africa, the main imperatives are to invest in
infrastructure, black economic empowerment and to
alleviate the plight of the poor. The environment, corporate
governance and stakeholder engagement, although
important and vital, are not the most important issues on
the South African agenda for SRI funds.
One mechanism that could be investigated is the
establishment of a high level international committee to
examine the possibility of channelling SRI funds into Africa.
Organisation of Economic Development (OECD) based
pension funds will need to diversify geographically in the
coming years to maintain the growth rates necessary to
Why?
Currently most of the people looking at sustainability
banking issues in Africa are those who have a genuine
interest in this area. However, if the sophisticated thinking
which has seen the development of derivatives, hedge
funds, exotic futures markets, and other risk diluting
products were applied with full force to African
sustainability challenges, what results could be achieved to
create new capital to serve sustainable development? Has
the creative financial thinking to support sustainability been
undertaken? Many of the foreign banks operating in Africa
such as Barclays and Standard Chartered ensure that
environmental / sustainability training is implemented for
the regional African field offices. Could such training be
offered more broadly to, say, government or banking
council counterparts?
Idea 8:
An Africa-wide sustainability index could be created, based
on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) SRI
model132.
Why?
The JSE has developed the necessary infrastructure and
data capture and analysis capacity to drive a regional or
Africa-wide model. This would create a framework for
potentially increasing SRI investment flows.
6.2
Providing New Finance
Idea 9:
Encourage increased government participation in the
provision of low income housing.
Why?
Although specialised housing finance vehicles have been
unsuccessfully attempted in several countries in Africa, the
development of properly structured entities could attract
significant funding from local and foreign banks, as well as
developed country socially-minded pension funds and
132 See section 5, case study 3.
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donors. These entities could manage low-income housing
finance, and monitor arrears levels centrally and manage
these carefully. Government participation would serve to
mitigate some of the risk if the default rate went above a
specified percentage. By developing a common regional
approach, learning and efficiencies could be shared across
countries.
Alternatively, the involvement of government need not
necessarily be via a specialised financing vehicle. Banks
should be primarily responsible for originating housing
loans, with finance from banks, pension funds, life assurers
and other financial institutions. The role of government
should be that of sharing risk where possible default is
higher than commercially acceptable levels. Government
should also mitigate non-commercial risk and address
regulatory impediments to sustainable lending. This type of
partnership between government and banks could be
implemented via different funding structures and public
private partnerships (PPPs). The reason government needs
to be involved is that there are severe affordability
constraints in certain segments of the low income housing
market. There are also risks that cannot be dealt with on a
commercial basis, but can be addressed if government
mitigates these. The more efficient use of the government
capital subsidy is also an essential element of this
equation.
Idea 10:
Capacity building in the SME sector by banks to ensure
sound long term business planning and management.
Why?
Banks are not unwilling to finance the SME sector, but
opportunities to fund credible business people with credible
business plans and the necessary skills to implement them
are in short supply. The issue is often not access to capital
per se, but rather access to skills in approaching banks for
capital, and in managing the long term sustainability of the
enterprise. Many financial institutions offer assistance with
the development of business plans to access start up
capital, but very few focus on the development of more
fundamental business skills to ensure long term success.
'Skilling up' entrepreneurs in resource management,
monthly budgeting and accounting, and management of
the long term growth of their businesses is vital.
Idea 11:
Capacity building within the informal financial sector should
be one of the targets of the formal financial sector.
Page 69
Why?
Some of the finance sector funding from commercial banks
should be allocated towards strengthening the capacity of
burial societies, savings and credit co-operatives and
microfinance institutions so that they run their affairs
efficiently and forge effective links between the formal and
informal sectors. Banks can also use these and other
alternative institutions to deliver financial services to the
unbanked in a sustainable way.
Idea 12:
Legislation pertaining to the microfinance sector should
encourage rather than hinder development of this field.
Why?
This would provide the opportunity for new entrants into the
microfinance field where previous regulatory constraints
made this an unprofitable sector. For example, the South
African Reserve Bank is working on legislation to enable
different tiers of financial institutions to serve different
markets with focused products. In Kenya, the Co-operative
Bank, in conjunction with DfID, is investigating the
opportunity for provision of wholesale finance to
organisations on the ground. These initiatives should be
used as case studies by other African countries.
Idea 13:
Develop capacity building programs to enable microfinance
practitioners to "bundle" or securitise their loan books and
take them to mainstream capital markets or investors.
Why?
One of the problems for many of the emerging
microfinance institutions is that they are very successful on
a limited scale but lack the capacity and financial skills to
scale up into a larger more mainstream product that
services a wider community. Securitisation can result in a
cheaper cost of funds to the microfinance institutions, and
ultimately to their borrowers.
Idea 14:
Establish public private partnerships (PPPs) to provide
venture capital for sustainability start ups or business
expansions in Africa that are based on a strategy of
opportunity creation rather than risk mitigation.
Why?
The role of the public institution is to shoulder some of the
political risk and to ensure that private investors can
achieve necessary returns. Partnerships also help to ensure
Practitioners’ Ideas for Innovation Tomorrow
that the private sector is not excluded through donor or
government interventions funding. Such partnerships can
also add value in ensuring that the start up or expansion
project identifies and maximizes all opportunities, rather
than focusing solely on risk management. An example of a
successful partnership is the Emerging Africa Infrastructure
Fund (EAIF)133.
Idea 15:
When depositing project finances into country based banks
in Africa, donors and large international NGOs should apply
a 'best in class' approach to select which banks to deal
with.
Why?
International organisations depositing hard currency into
locally based finance institutions potentially have significant
leverage to effect a change in practice towards
sustainability banking by adopting a best in class approach.
This could work best if there is a partnership approach
whereby international organisations require foreign
financiers to work together with a local partner on their
projects and 'mentor' this local partner regarding
sustainability practices.
Idea 16:
Undertake a significant review of risk assessment tools
being applied in African countries in order to improve the
sustainability and risk-return profiles of portfolio
investments to attract more investment flows.
Why?
Significant international investment opportunities are
potentially being missed in Africa because current methods
of assessing risks and opportunities are too narrowly
defined. Existing assessment methodologies have
traditionally focused on areas where high transaction
volume is required and any opportunities not fitting this
“mainstream profile” are often ignored at the outset.
Idea 17:
Investment banks should provide finance and capacitybuilding support to small-scale financial intermediaries
supplying innovative sustainability finance such as micro
credit and sustainability venture capital.
Why?
The SME sector in African countries will be one of the main
engines for growth. Though a couple of banks provide this
kind of support and expertise very few banks have worked
with local banks mixing their expertise with local knowledge
to create innovative finance mechanisms. To demonstrate
potential returns to these investment banks, some
successful precedents will need to be highlighted.
Idea 18:
Country level financial associations should include a core
module on sustainability banking in their professional
training and examinations.
Why?
There is a critical need to look at the business case for
sustainability and how this impacts on the finance sector.
There is certainly a need for considerable capacity in
assessing social and environmental risk and opportunity.
Both the IFC and UNEP FI are in the process of developing
courses that could be tailor made to suit specific country
issues.
6.3
Savings and transactions
Idea 19:
Create appropriate and conducive policies and legislation
to support the broadening of access to financial services
for the poor.
Why?
Legislation should enable and encourage workers to have
an effective say over their provident and pension funds
through their trustees. The exemption from the Banks Act,
or equivalent legal frameworks, for savings and credit cooperatives and other financial services co-operatives needs
to be revisited, to allow these institutions to flourish and
play appropriate roles. The control and regulation of loan
predatory lenders is another priority across the continent to
address the high indebtedness of the working class to
these lenders. An alternative source of accessible and
affordable micro-credit should be encouraged. In South
Africa, the banking sector is developing a National Bank
Account that will include a savings and money transfer
facility134. This is being done co-operatively by the banks
and costs are being cut to ensure capital appreciation in
savings. Requirements to open savings accounts will also
be very simple. This could provide a useful model for the
rest of the continent. The South African Financial Sector
Charter also sets targets for improving access to financial
services135 and could offer some guidance to other African
countries.
133 See section 5, case study 1.
134 See section 4.1.
135 See section 5, case study 8.
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Idea 20:
Post Banks, or universal banks, should be encouraged and
built up in such a way as to as a viable source of financial
services to the poor, but also to act as an effective
stepping stone into mainstream commercial banking.
Why?
Although this is happening through most of the continent,
post banks have not provided that stepping stone to
access mainstream banking services. Regulations should
be tailor-made to build capacity within the Post Banks, or
universal banks, and to maximise inter country learning to
encourage the sharing of best practice. These institutions
would thus develop beyond their traditional roles as savings
institutions into providing a wider range of financial
services, as well as significantly increasing financial literacy.
Interaction with the banking sector would also ensure the
best use of capacity.
Idea 21:
Micro-leasing offers significant opportunities to promote
the development of entrepreneurs and small enterprises.
Why?
Micro-leasing would enable entrepreneurs to access
resources for business without the risk of capital
expenditure. In the same way that large corporations lease
photocopiers, for example, SMEs would lease particular
equipment for their ventures, including the servicing and
technical support. Experimental micro-leasing is currently
being discussed in Kenya, with the leasing of bee hives to
rural communities. Risk sharing schemes with suppliers of
equipment should also be explored, for example, limited
buy-back guarantees.
Idea 22:
The potential exists to couple savings with other forms of
transactions such as paying insurance premiums on tools
and equipment, and building deposits for first time home
loans.
Why?
Institutions, which traditionally focus on savings, have not
been able to provide other products and services that
leverage off savings. The opportunity to provide overall
financial literacy once clients have decided to save
provides significant opportunities for banks to introduce
new products.
136 Financial Sector Charter, 2003. See also section 5, case study 8.
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Idea 23:
Investigate alternative means of delivering banking services
to rural areas.
Why?
Access to cash is key to improving rural livelihoods and
reducing the household transaction costs by travelling to
cities and towns. In South Africa, the banking sector has
committed to providing 80% of the population with a point
where they can do banking within 20km of where they work
or live136. Innovative technology building on the already
piloted mini ATMs, points in retail stores, cell phones and
so on will be used to enable people to deposit and
withdraw money.
Idea 24:
Savings products and services should take their cues from
the societies and communities they hope to serve.
Why?
Most African societies are very community based, while
most savings products and services offered by formal
banks tend to be focused on the individual. More
innovation is required to take these cultural aspects into
account, and develop group savings schemes.
Idea 25:
Measure and assess how households banking outside the
formal banking sector manage their savings deposits and
look at the products that are needed at this local level.
Why?
Instead of offering inappropriate formal economy solutions,
microfinance interventions need to be based on what
works for people where they are. Most of the microfinance
needs of the poor are about issues such as life cycle
needs, emergencies, and cash flow management. This
inevitably leads to a focus on what many would call
'consumption credit' that allows them to manage
vulnerability shocks, such as a primary breadwinner getting
sick, or be able to engage effectively in a often principally
bartering based society. The misconception that micro
credit should simply develop Western style capitalism is
often missing the point of what is needed.
6.4
Risk management
Idea 26:
National or regional guidelines and principles should be
established for managing social and environmental risk.
Practitioners’ Ideas for Innovation Tomorrow
Why?
Responsible lending has become an international issue
following the development of lender liability in the United
States and the launch of the Equator Principles137. By
looking more closely at social and environmental issues,
banks can improve risk management and assessments,
decrease the possibility of default, and improve their
reputations. Opportunities exist to develop more
environmentally-based and socially aware lending
practices, which fully account for sustainability issues in
credit and project screening. This would promote good
practice amongst banks without competitive disadvantage
being perceived through more onerous due diligence
requirements. It would also satisfy environmental
legislation and impact assessment regulations in many
African countries, as well as those of multi-lateral
development banks.
Idea 27:
The Life Offices Association, or equivalent, should promote
automatic mortgage insurance cover of an acceptable
amount irrespective of HIV status.
Why?
Many AIDS orphans are deprived of roofs over their heads
on the death of their parents, as a result of the absence of
effective mortgage insurance cover. This is already in place
in South Africa, and could be used as a model on the rest
of the continent.
Idea 28:
Insurers should provide agricultural yield guarantee
products appropriate to local African market conditions.
Why?
High discount rates (and consequent lower investment) in
African economies are partly due to crop losses relating to
extreme weather conditions. Banks at the local level have
the ability to monitor and model social and environmental
risk appropriately particularly in relation to cash crops but
even for crops going to local markets. Micro insurance
through micro lenders is also a possibility in this regard.
This would allow good farmers to accelerate more quickly
out of a poverty cycle as they could plan more long term.
Idea 29:
Insurance products should be tailored more closely to
issues that have a significant impact on an industry at the
local level.
Why?
HIV/AIDS and malaria are good examples in which
company prevention programmes can have a direct impact
on costs. Pricing of premiums allows a market based
incentive for good practice to be created. This could be
linked to industry codes of practice, similar to the social
risk guidelines issued by the Association of British Insurers,
to encourage a collective approach for in this instance
being a front runner is not necessary an advantage.
Genetic modification of crops could also be relevant here,
and even wider climate change issues, since this has been
identified internationally by the insurance industry as its
single biggest risk.
137 See section 1.
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encouraging adoption of similar innovations elsewhere on
the continent.
7.
Conclusion
7.1
An Agenda for Change - Making Sustainability
Banking Count in Africa
The evidence from the report points to the emergence of a
dynamic business case for sustainability banking in subSaharan Africa. This development is linked to improved risk
analysis, better corporate governance standards, increased
potential to access international funds, enhanced ability to
enter or create new markets and improved stakeholder
relations. The report highlights an impressive range of
financial innovations supporting sustainability in Africa. One
of the report's aims is to raise awareness of the
achievements of these financial institutions, thus
The report demonstrates clearly that there is need for
further innovation, and that considerable thought has been
given by practitioners to potential areas of future innovation
in sustainability finance. In analysing sustainability banking
in an African context, and in individual meetings with
practitioners, consideration was given to the best way to
move forward in this regard. Doing so may be achieved
internally through financial institution innovation, or
externally through government regulatory innovation.
Pressure from society at large, demanding more
transparency and improved access to a range of traditional
banking services, could provide a catalyst for change.
Table 2: Summary of current innovations identified in this report
Pricing Assets and
Providing New
Exercising Ownership Finance
South Africa
• Finance Charter
• Nedbank Green Trust
• JSE SRI Index
• Community Property
Fund
• Earth Equity Fund
• Development Fund
of Funds
• IDEAS Fund
• Women’s Initiative
Fund
• Carbon trading
• Finance Charter
• Finmark Trust
• PPPs
• FNB smart account
• Khula mentorship
Scheme
• Futuregrowth’s
Development Funds
Senegal
• ACEP
• CIF forum
Nigeria
• SME Partnership
SMIEIS
• Oil Service Local
Contractor Credit
Scheme
Kenya
• DrumNet
• WEEC
Risk Management
Savings and
Transactions
• Financial Charter
• CCMR
• Financial Charter
• Standard Bank’s
E Plan
• Teba Bank
• Inter-bank Task
Group
• ATM Solutions
• MicroSave-Africa
• Equity Building
Society
• ASCAs
• K-Rep
Botswana
Other
Page 73
• EAIF
• CETZAM
• Botswana Savings
Bank
• Malswitch
• Celpay
• Epack
Conclusion
Several clear possibilities for future action emerged during
discussions, and are highlighted below.
7.2
Strategies to encourage sustainability banking
practices in Africa
Governments can adopt the following strategies to
accelerate the move to sustainability banking:
Box 8: Opportunities through NEPAD
The New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD) offers an important opportunity to promote the
goals of Sustainability Banking. For a start, many of the
core objectives of NEPAD deal with promoting
sustainable development and addressing the challenges
to financing and investment on the continent, thereby,
indirectly encouraging and facilitating the move from
defensive to Sustainability Banking.
NEPAD sets high standards for political, economic and
corporate governance. Whilst the methods for reviewing
and monitoring these may still be under discussion,
there is ample opportunity for the financial sector to
contribute to these goals.
Financiers can play their part by imposing strict
standards of probity in all the entities and transactions
that they finance in Africa.
This is becoming a basic tenant of international banking
conduct, with greater enforcement of anti money
laundering legislation. All too often, lenders rely on
political risk cover to shield them from the consequences
of corruptly engineered deals.
A combination of ethical investment and lending, and
the development and enforcement of prudential banking
regulations should improve standards of corporate
governance on the continent, and thus contribute to
NEPAD's goals.
“'There is no doubt as to the economic, social and
political upside if NEPAD achieves its objectives... but it
needs the power of private enterprise and the citizens of
its most powerful nations to drive it. There is no
downside. We cannot sit back and blame government if
NEPAD fails, if we as business have failed in our duty to
make our contribution.” (From Bowles and Pennington,
South Africa, More Good News, 2003).
• Expansion of environmental / social liability legislation in
ways that make more direct connection between certain
major, well defined environmental and social risks and a
concomitant financial risk to lenders, insurers and
investors;
• Adoption of environmental / social reporting
requirements for stock market listed companies and
initial public offerings (IPOs);
• Adoption of generally accepted environmental and social
reporting standards;
• Mainstreaming of environmental and social criteria for
pension funds, life insurance funds and government
controlled funds;
• Fostering of an enabling framework to encourage and
incentivise sustainability banking practices, which would
include universal banking and access to financial
markets for the poor. Public policy needs to be pro-active
and innovative in addressing sustainability banking
issues, if opportunities are to be harnessed and the right
enabling environment is to be put in place;
• Adoption of legislation to support capacity building and
systemic approaches;
• Review of legislation that may hinder sustainability
banking practice, such as modifying the substantive anti
money laundering framework to suit the African context
and prevent financial exclusion; and
• Adoption of regional strategies (e.g. through NEPAD) and
partnerships to encourage the consideration of social /
environmental / ethical and human rights issues by the
financial sector in a coherent and uniform manner (see
Box 8).
Internally, banks and other financial institutions could
evolve from defensive to sustainability banking strategies
by:
• Understanding the business case and the competitive
advantage offered by sustainability banking. The triple
bottom line approach (people, planet and prosperity) is
integrated into the bank's core business strategy, and is
no longer limited to risk avoidance, but is now seen as a
part of every type of decision making process,
particularly overall bank strategy development.
Sustainability related issues are recognised as drivers for
developing new products and services, generating
additional revenue and increasing market share, and the
organisation becomes environmental value driven;
• Developing a strong corporate social responsibility
strategy that is integrated and embedded across the
business practices of the organisation and supply chain;
Page 74
• Signing up to and building on a range of internationally
and locally recognised codes and standards;
• Developing policies and guidelines for integrating ethical,
social and environmental dimensions into the investment
strategy; e.g., reflecting the cost of environmental and
social risks in the pricing of financial and risk
management products;
• Promoting transparency and high standards of corporate
governance in themselves and in the activities being
financed. Social and environmental considerations must
be firmly embedded into any emerging corporate
governance architecture and review processes;
• Exercising shareholder voting power and an engagement
orientated approach to encourage responsible behaviour;
• Reviewing portfolios for non-compliant stocks and
excluding those whose performance is unacceptable;
• Providing access to market finance and risk
management products to businesses and individuals in
disadvantaged communities;
• Providing access to finance for the development of
environmentally beneficial technologies, such as
renewable energy projects or energy efficient products;
• Advocating the expansion of mainstream analysts' duties
to include social and environmental criteria; and
• Affording greater consideration to sustainability and
environmental risk issues in the emerging markets by
rating agencies.
These steps are summarised in Box 9.
The financial sector as a whole can encourage the uptake
of sustainability banking practices by:
• Establishing multi stakeholder partnerships to address
sustainability finance in Africa. Such partnerships would
enable governments, donors, civil society groups and
public and private financial institutions to take
coordinated action. This in turn would enable the
mainstream private sector finance and insurance sectors
to contribute to sustainable development in a manner
that is appropriate to the African context. A number of
the case studies reviewed in this report highlight the
benefit of such partnerships and the potential for
innovative outcomes from these.
• Facilitate understanding of sustainability banking
practices through improved data collection and
development of relevant case studies. There is a clear
need for research and informed data in this area,
particularly in the African context. Sustainability banking
needs to be developed through informed approaches
Page 75
Box 9: The path towards Sustainability Banking
This three tiered framework highlights the steps to be
taken by financial institutions in moving towards
sustainability banking.
1 Financial Institutions beginning to develop a
sustainability banking approach must:
• Ensure commitment at top level management.
• Examine key business drivers, including principle areas
of sustainability risk and opportunity.
• Examine organisational values of company in the
context of sustainability.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of the
management team, and choose specific limited
sustainability interventions with clear objectives.
• Monitor and evaluate performance against specific
criteria and objectives.
2 Financial institutions wishing to move beyond a basic
commitment to sustainability banking should:
• Ensure commitment of staff and board involvement.
• Analyse sustainability risks and opportunities in detail,
including the scope for innovation.
• Incorporate sustainability principles into a code of
practice.
• Look to integrate a sustainability framework across the
bank including in overall strategy.
• Train and build awareness of all staff.
• Communicate the sustainability strategy internally and
externally.
• Undertake reporting of sustainability risk management
and opportunities.
• Develop a knowledge management and learning
framework.
3 Financial institutions aiming to achieve competitive
sustainability advantage should:
• Move to inspire the whole organisational network
including suppliers and key partners.
• Use professional benchmarking and diagnostic tools to
evaluate company performance on sustainability
banking and inform strategy development linking
directly to core business competencies.
• Apply external standards and consider external auditing
to enhance credibility.
• Undertake progressive stakeholder engagement
process.
• Integrate sustainability issues into key internal
management systems.
• Undertake externally audited sustainability reporting
process.
• Ongoing review and analysis of performance against
measured targets.
Conclusion
that are then translated to a broader audience. Bodies
such as Banking Councils and the UNEP FI ATF should
be supported in initiatives to disseminate good practice
and develop standards for sustainability banking.
7.3
Principles of Sustainability Banking
In 2002, the Corporation of London and individual finance
sector institutions developed the 'London Principles' to
propose conditions for a financial system, and the role of
institutions within that system, that will enhance the
financing of sustainable development” and to improve the
performance of financial institutions in promoting economic
prosperity in line with sustainable development priorities.
It is proposed that the London Principles offer a sound
base for departure in the African context. This report hopes
to initiate a dialogue around these principles to look at
generating an African version of the principles, that can
then be embedded into NEPAD or adapted to suit individual
country requirements. The South African Financial Sector
Charter would also provide a foundation for developing
principles encouraging social development and upliftment
across the continent.
Variations in legislation, government enforcement capability
and operating environments between countries all provide
difficulties for banks operating in more than one country in
Africa. It is acknowledged that coming up with uniform
sustainability banking targets across the continent may
prove challenging. Equally it has become clear that
northern standards do not necessarily represent global
standards, and that forcing northern derived standards
onto Africa without proper opportunities for debate could
provide an even greater barrier to sustainability banking
than currently exists.
Box 10: A Blueprint for the “Johannesburg Principles”?
The London principles define the role of the UK financial services in sustainable development. They could be used as a
basis for the development of African principles to guide and encourage sustainability banking practices on the continent.
In adopting these Principles, signatories agree, where relevant to the product and geographical scope of their business,
to:
Economic Prosperity
Principle 1 Provide access to finance and risk management products for investment, innovation and the most efficient
use of existing assets
Principle 2 Promote transparency and high standards of corporate governance in themselves and in the activities being
financed
Principle 3 Recognise the importance of the provision of financial services to all socio-economic sectors of the
population
Principle 4 Provide access to technical and business support to both borrowers (especially SMEs) and lenders focusing
on this sector (microfinance or SME lending institutions) to ensure their long term commercial viability and
sustainability
Environmental Protection
Principle 5 Reflect the cost of environmental and social risks in the pricing of financial and risk management products
Principle 6 Exercise equity ownership to promote efficient and sustainable asset use and risk management
Principle 7 Provide access to finance for the development of environmentally beneficial technologies
Social Development
Principle 8 Exercise equity ownership to promote high standards of corporate social responsibility in the activities being
financed
Principle 9 Provide access to market finance and risk management products to businesses in disadvantaged
communities and developing economies
Principle 10 Promote the use of effective partnerships between government, private sector and NGOs in order to offer
innovative sustainability banking products and services to all sectors of the population
Page 76
7.4
The way forward
It is proposed that this report be distributed widely to
financial institutions operating in Africa, through national
and regional banking councils and life assurance bodies.
Champions should be identified within these organisations
to co-ordinate regional roundtable events bringing public
and private sector financial bodies, as well as relevant
NGOs and other stakeholders together. These roundtables
would allow the finance sector to investigate the relevance
to Africa of the Western / developed countries'
understanding of Sustainability Banking and to identify
ways of customising a regional African or continent wide
Page 77
concept of Sustainability Banking. In addition, they would
afford the opportunity for the finance sector to share
current good practice in this regard, and gauge
international trends. In South Africa, the finance sector
could look at sustainability issues in the light of
developments subsequent to the launch of the finance
sector charter. Overall, these discussion fora could initiate
the potential development of a set of voluntary
sustainability principles that accord with the interests of the
finance community while keeping in line with international
norms, and fostering partnerships between government,
the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to
embed the notion of sustainability banking across the
continent.
Appendices
Appendices
Banque Islamique du Senegal
Azhar Khan, Managing Director
Appendix 1
Institutions and individuals consulted
Banque Senagalo - Tunisienne
Abdoul Mbaye, Managing Director
ACEP
Mayoro Loum, Managing Director; Papa Ali Ndior, Assistant
Managing Director
Barclays
Amin Habib, Director Corporate Banking; Mike Klinck,
Communications Manager
African Bank
Lydia du Plessis, Executive, Treasury & Investor Relations;
Winnie Kunene, General Manager African Bank Foundation;
Zanele Mavimbela, Sustainability Officer
BEDIA
Shandukane Mpoloka, Director Investor Svcs
Africa Project Development Facility (APDF)
Mohamed Wade
Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), Senegal
Luc Seupera, Director; Laetitia Habchi, Programme
Manager
APDME Senegal
Mme Diedhiou, Managing Director
ATM Solutions
Rowan Swartz
Banco Europa
Filipe Coelho, Director
Bank of Botswana
O. Mabusa, Director Banking Supervision; Sholo Amos
Matale, Principal Bank Examiner
Banking Council of South Africa
Cas Coovadia, Senior General Manager
Bannock Consulting
Cerstin Sander, manager, SME and micro-finance projects
Banque Centrle des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
Modienne Guisse, Director for Dakar
Banque de l'Habitat du Senegal
Kader Sow, Managing Director
Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie
du Senegal (BICIS)
Mouhamadou Ndiaye, Managing Director
BIFM
Mothusi Lekalale, Head: Corporate Communications;
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO
Botswana Power Corporation
Tlhamamiso M. Selato, PR Officer
Botswana Savings Bank
T. N. Phatshwane, Manager
Capital Alliance Nigeria
Paul Kokoricha
Capital Partners, Nigeria
Solape Oyinloye, Victor O. Aloafin
CDC Capital Partners
Sarah Glasson and Mark Goldsmith, Manager Financial
Institutions and Business Principles Unit
Centre Point Merchant Bank, Nigeria
D. O. Odife, Execuive Vice Chairman; Tony Iwobi, General
Manager
Chartered Bank Nigeria
Emma Nwosu, Assistant General Manager
Citibank
Donna Nemer Oosthuyse, Vice President Strategic Affairs;
Ann Mutahi, Corporate Banking Relationship Manager
South Africa; Yemi Adeola, Executive Director, Desmond
Ovbiagele, Assistant Manager Nigeria; Souleymane Diagne,
Assistant Director Senegal
CGAP - The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
Elizabeth L. Littlefield and Patricia Mwangi
Page 78
Commercial Bank of Africa
Isaac Uwondo, Managing Director
First Securities Discount House Limited
Hamda A. Amdah, General Manager
Companie Bancaire de l'Afrique Occidental (CBAO)
Senegal
Anta Diom, Assistant General Manager; Mamoudou Kane,
Director of Public Relations
Fonds de Promotion Economique (FPE), Senegal
Demba Diop, Marketing Director
Counters Trust Securities Limited Nigeria
Wloe Famurewa
Co-operative Bank
Mr Zechariah Chianda, Chief Manager
Credit Agricole
Arfang Daffe, Managing Director, Senegal
Credit Lyonnaise
Jean Claude Dubois, Managing Director, Senegal
Databank Ghana
Ken Ofori-Atta, Executive Chairman
Debswana
Mark Moffett, Group Finance Manager
Development Bank of Southern Africa
Elsa Kruger-Cloete
Forum for the Future
Brian Pearce, Director; Emma Hunt, Head of Sustainable
Finance Education
FSB International Bank and Black Emerald
Anthony Storrow, Deputy Managing Director; John Lister,
Managing Director; Sven Hansen, Managing General
Partner
Futuregrowth Asset Management (Pty) Ltd
Lisa Christodoulou, Social Impact Analyst
IBTC Nigeria
Nnenna Agu, Project Finance, Yemisi Tayo-Aboaba, Head of
Project Finance
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Lakhdeep Babra, Sarah Ruck, Robin Sandenburgh, Dan
Siddy and Todd Hanson of IFC's Environmental and Social
Development Department; and, Andrew Alli, Saleem
Karimjee, Jean Philippe Prosper and Marieme Travaly of
IFC's Sub Saharan Africa Department; and Ann Pasco of
IFC’s Media and Marketing Department
Ecobank
Oladele Alabi, Assistant General Manager Nigeria; Chieck
Travaly, Head of Institutional Banking Senegal
Investec
Malcom Gray, Fund Manager
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency
Hoda Sabry, Environmental Protection Fund Manager
Jitegemee Trust
Ben Mbai, Micro Finance
Faula Kenya
Mary Kishoiyian
K Rep Bank Advisory Services
John Kachangahi
FCMB Capital Markets Nigeria
Ndidi Adegbite and Debo Adesanya
K Rep Bank
Kimanthi Mutua
FinMark Trust
David Porteous, CEO
K Rep Development Association
Aleke Eondo
First Bank of Nigeria
Dr Emmanuel M. Abolo, Assistant General Manager;
Francis Odi, Relationship Manager
Kenya Bankers Association
John Wanyela
Kenya Commercial Bank
Terry Davidson, Chief Executive
Page 79
Appendices
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Steve Ouma, Senior Programme Officer
Sec Trust Nigeria
Funso Oke, Busola Solanke, Doji Adeagbo
Khokhela Consult
Melissa Makwarimba
SME Manager Nigeria
Rotimi Oyenkanmi, CEO
Malswitch (Reserve Bank of Malawi)
Moza Zeleza, Deputy General Manager
Societe Generale des Banques au Senegal
Bernards Labadens, Managing Director
Ministry of Finance & Planning
Stan Ngaine, Director Fiscal & Monetary Affairs
SR&I
Dan Sonnenberg and Markus Reichardt
Ministry of SMEs and Commerce, Senegal
Ibrahima Diouf, Director
Standard Bank of South Africa
Greg Ansermino and Jonathan Wood, Directors, Project
Finance; Lincoln Mali and Charles Chemel, Directors, Retail
Bank; Sandra Ainley, Corporate Governance; Bridget
Lamont, Retail Bank
National Development Bank
B. Mojalemotho, PR & Communications
NBM Bank Nigeria
Wale Adeniranye, Senior Manager
Nedcor
Justin Smith, Senior Manager Corporate Governance and
Sustainability
NEPAD Secretariat
Dr Mohammed Jahed, Chief Economist
Old Mutual
Paul Mwai, Fund Manager
Opportunity International
Andrew House and Richard Leftley, Africa Programme
Manager and Insurance product manager
Pan African Corporate Governance Trust
Karagor Gatamah
Parmacas, Senegal
Samba Dia, Assistant Managing Director
Registrar General
Tom Store, Advisor to Registrar General
Stanbic Bank, Botswana
Dennis Kennedy and Grant Marais, Director and Executive
Director
Teba Bank
Thozama Doni, General Manager: Products, Fiona Bloxam,
Marketing Manager and Chantelle Storbeck, Product
Manager
Trialogue
Nick Rockey
UNEP FI
Paul Clements-Hunt and Niamh O’Sullivan
UNDP
Nancy Ngengwenyane, Programme Officer
USAID
Yumiko Ikuta and Anthony Vodraska, Private Enterprise
Officer and Supervisory Programme Officer
United Bank Nigeria
Nana Dawodu, Head International Capital Partners
Page 80
Appendix 2
region by funding physical, social and economic
infrastructure.
List of useful websites
http://www.acia.sun.ac.za
The Africa Centre for Investment Analysis (ACIA) is a
research, educational and service institution.
http://www.emissions.org
The mission of the Emissions Marketing Association is to
promote market-based trading solutions for environmental
management and to serve its membership.
http://www.aiccafrica.org
The African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) was
established in 2000 as a non-governmental / non-profit
organisation to strengthen African leadership in corporate
citizenship through research, advocacy and network
building. The Centre for Sustainability Investing is a
programme area under AICC. The Centre strives to work
with the financial sectors both in Africa and abroad to
promote innovative development financing models and to
develop risk management instruments appropriate to local
conditions.
http://www.environmental-finance.com/
Environmental Finance is a monthly magazine covering the
ever-increasing impact of environmental issues on the
lending, insurance, investment and trading decisions
affecting industry.
http://www.alternative-finance.org.uk/en/intro.html
The Alternative Finance Website is a forum for MFI
practitioners and researchers to access otherwise
unpublished documents and information on all aspects of
alternative and microfinance.
http://www.finmarktrust.org.za/
FinMark Trust aims to promote and support policy and
institutional development towards the objective of
increasing access to financial services by the un- and
under-banked of southern Africa.
http://www.appropriate-economics.org/
An internet library of materials on "appropriate economics",
including a wide range of documents and materials on
history, money, economics, religion, global economics, and
how to implement appropriate economic systems.
http://www.finscope.co.za/
FinScope 2003, a FinMark Trust initiative, is the most
comprehensive national household survey focussed on the
financial services needs and usage across the entire South
African population.
http://www.banking.org.za/
The Banking Council South Africa is the industry body for
the banking sector in South Africa.
http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/
Forum for the Future is a UK-based charity founded in
1996 specialising in transformation processes towards
sustainable development within the business and public
sector.
http://www.cgap.org/about_cgap.html
CGAP is a consortium of 28 public and private
development agencies working together to expand access
to financial services for the poor in developing countries.
http://www.csfi.fsnet.co.uk/
The CSFI is an independent think tank to stimulate
research into the future of the financial services industry.
http://www.dbsa.org.za/
Established in 1983 by the government of the Republic of
South Africa, the DBSA is one of five existing development
finance institutions in South Africa and has a mandate to
accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the
Page 81
http://www.equator-principles.com/
The website for the "Equator Principles" - an industry
approach for financial institutions in determining, assessing
and managing environmental & social risk in project
financing.
http://www.globalreporting.org/
The Global Reporting Initiative is a multi-stakeholder
process and independent institution whose mission is to
develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/finance/i
ndex.htm
The social finance programme at the International Labour
Organization (ILO).
Appendices
Http://www.itdgpublishing.org.uk/sed.htm
The Small Enterprise Development - an international
journal of microfinance and business development.
http://www.inaise.org/
The International Association of Investors in the Social
Economy (INAISE) is a global network of socially and
environmentally oriented financial institutions.
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/
The Microfinance Gateway is a public forum where
microfinance professionals can contribute thought pieces,
post publications, publicize conferences and training
workshops, debate current issues, and look for
employment.
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/progressiveinvest
or/index.cfm
The Progressive Investor a sustainable business investor
magazine.
http://www.unepfi.net/
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Finance Initiatives.
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/
The World Bank Group in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Page 82
The African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) is a centre of excellence in corporate social responsibility, committed to
strengthening responsible growth and competitiveness in Africa through research, advocacy and network building. Established
in 2001, AICC has managed in a short time to become a leading NGO/NPO in Africa focusing on corporate citizenship.
AICC relates corporate citizenship not only to the private sector but also to a wide range of organisations that might have an
economic, social or environmental impact on society. As a result, it works with a variety of organisations including businesses
both small and large, government institutions and civil society organisations. Since its establishment AICC has grown steadily
and today compromises of twelve dedicated people.
design & layout [email protected]
The core team at AICC has significant experience of working across a number of sectors, including corporate, government
and civil society. A major strength of AICC is a wealth of international experience, and the number of links it has with key
global multi-national organisations. This ensures that both local and international best practice is taken into account when
addressing Africa's corporate citizenship challenges.
9 St, David Place, Parktown, Johannesburg
PO Box 37357, Birnam Park, 2015, South Africa
Telephone +27 (0) 11 643 6604
Facsimile +27 (0) 11 643 6918
[email protected]
www.aiccafrica.org